APRIL 23: Slowing Immigration 

Profile America — Saturday, April 23rd. One-hundred one years ago today, the Census Bureau announced that the total foreign-born population of the United States had increased by only 2.6 percent since the 1910 census. This was down sharply from the first decade of the 20th century, when the increase was over 30 percent. The dramatic plunge was primarily due to reduced immigration because of the Great War of 1914 to 1918. Additionally, during the years of that conflict, over 2 million Germans, Austro-

Hungarians, Irish and Russian people repatriated to Europe. In 1920, the foreign-born population totaled 13.9-million in a nation of 106-million, or just over 13.1 percent. In America today, some 45-million residents are foreign born, about 13.6 percent of our population. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov. 

Sources:

Census Bureau announcement, accessed 11/26/2021

1920 U.S. population

Foreign-born population in 1920, p. 117 [2 MB]

Current foreign-born population, American Community Survey