U.S. Immigrant Population Hits Record High: One in Six Adults is Foreign-Born

The number of legal and non-legal immigrants living in the United States rose to a record high 41.3 million people in 2013, according to a new report.

The report from the Center for Immigration Studies, based on Census Bureau data, said immigrants now account for about 13.1 percent of U.S. residents, or about one out of every eight people. CIS said that's the highest percentage seen in 93 years — in 1980, only about 6.2 percent of the population was born outside the United States.

Children play kickball at the Karnes County Residential Center, a temporary home for immigrant women and children detained at the border, in Karnes City, Texas. A new study based on Census data says the U.S. immigrant population is at a record high. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Immigrants also account for 16 percent of the adult population, which means about one out of every six adults living in the U.S. was born outside the country.

CIS said the U.S. added 1.4 million legal and non-legal immigrants between 2010 and 2013.

While growth from the Western hemisphere is still strong, the U.S. is taking in more and more people from other countries.

"The new data makes clear that while Latin American and the Caribbean are still a significant source of immigration, the growth is being driven in large part by immigration from Asia, the Middle East and Africa," said Steven Camarota, CIS's director of research.

The biggest increases were from South Asia, East Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Countries with the biggest increases from 2000 to 2013 were India, China, DR, Guatemala, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakisan and Iraq.

Despite these increases, Mexicans are still the largest immigrant population in the U.S., at 11.6 million. The report added that immigrants from Europe declined from 2010 to 2013.

Texas, California and Florida saw the largest increase in immigrant residents from 2010 to 2013; each of them saw increases over 100,000, and the immigrant population in Texas rose 227,000.

Based on percentage of population, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming saw the largest increases.

The report did not break down the numbers further for legal and illegal immigrants. But Republicans have been warning for months that the Obama administration is recklessly trying to ease immigration rules at the expense of employment opportunities for U.S.-born workers.

In June, CIS released a report showing that the net new jobs created from 2000 to 2014 all went to immigrants instead of people born in the U.S.