Chain migration a growing concern as U.S. immigrant levels hit record

Immigration to the U.S. hit a low after the Great Recession but came roaring back in the later years of the Obama administration, with 1.8 million migrants arriving in 2016 alone, according to an analysis being released Thursday.

The 1.8 million would match the U.S. record set in 1999, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, which extrapolated the 2016 numbers based on the first six months of that year.

The migrants included new green card holders, signifying permanent legal residence, as well as illegal immigrants, asylum seekers and long-term “visitors,” such as guest workers and students, many of whom eventually became permanent residents.

The numbers are 53 percent higher than in 2011, when the recession tamped down migration patterns, with just 1.1 million entering. The number grew to 1.5 million by 2014, topped 1.6 million in 2015 and is now projected to be about 1,796,000, the center said.

“These dramatic increases are truly extraordinary,” said Steven A. Camarota, research director at the center and one of the report’s authors.