Foreign Born

According to the U.S. Census, a foreign born person is anyone who is not a United States citizen at birth. A U.S. citizen at birth is anyone born in the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Island area or born abroad to U.S. parents. By this definition this is anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, who acquires naturalization later, or who has another immigration status such as a legal permanent resident, a refugee, an asylee, a temporary legal resident, a temporary migrant worker or an undocumented immigrant.

The U.S. census states the foreign born population has been increasing as a percentage of total population since the 1970s. Most foreign born are from Latin America and Asia, and about 1 in 4 children under 18 in families have at least one foreign-born parent. Approximately 13 million children under the age of 18 is living with foreign born parents only, and 54 million children under the age of 18 are living with one or both native parents. When the U.S. is taking census data they will gather information about the person's birth year, year of entry into the United States, the country of origin and their current citizenship status.