Since the 1970s, Hispanics have been a key driver of population growth in the United States. In 2014, more foreign-born populations migrated to the U.S. from various Asian countries and the Indian subcontinent, making Asians take the place of Hispanics to become the largest wave of new immigrants.
The U.S. immigrant population is divided into two main categories: lawful immigrants and unauthorized immigrants. Lawful immigrants can be further subcategorized into three groups: naturalized U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, and temporary migrants. The United States Department of Homeland Security broadly categorizes lawful permanent residents into six classes of admission:
Withheld data in classes of admission were limited to disclose. Therefore they remain empty in the chart.
A Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card holder) is someone who has been granted authorization to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. As proof of that status, a person is granted a permanent resident card, commonly called a "Green Card."
Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2014