The Department of Homeland Security just released its statistics on the number of legal permanent residents (LPR) in the U.S. showing that 12.5 million legal permanent residents are here. That number has remained fairly unchanged over the last three years. Of the 12.5 million legal residents approximately 7.9 million were eligible to become U.S. citizens last year.
Mexico was the leading country of origin of the LPR population in 2009. An estimated 3.3 million or 26 percent of LPRs came from Mexico. The next leading source country was the Philippines (0.6 million), followed by People’s Republic of China (0.5 million), India (0.5 million), and the Dominican Republic (0.4 million). Forty-two percent of LPRs in 2009 were born in one of these five countries. The 10 leading countries of origin, which also include Cuba, Canada, El Salvador, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom, represented 55 percent of the LPR population..
California was the leading state of residence with an estimated 3.3 million LPRs in 2009. The next leading states of residence were NewYork followed by Texas and Florida. These four states were home to 58 percent of LPRs in 2009.
