Key Facts
Every year, only one million people receive them and become legal permanent residents, while another four million continue to wait in line.
When people come to America, they come to work. In fact, immigrants are even more likely to work than native-born Americans, which is a uniquely American phenomenon. One way that immigrants help the economy and their families is by starting businesses.
New research shows that immigrants are much more likely to start businesses if they are educated, arrive early in their lives, and come from countries that aren’t currently well-represented among immigrants.
Both immigrants and the native-born population would prosper if the United States rebalanced its immigration system to admit younger and more educated immigrants from countries that have not benefitted equally from our immigration policies of the past.