The United States has issued 680,000 green cards to immigrants of Muslim-majority countries, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The green cards were issued within the last five years and will be reissued again in five years. Among the people who received green cards are individuals who entered the United States as refugees.
The data, released by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), adds that these, “refugees have instant access to federal welfare and entitlements, along with local benefits and education services; these costs are not offset.”
The release from Sessions notes that “Assuming no change in visa policy, the U.S. can expect to give green cards to another 680,000 more migrants from these countries over the next five years… A green card entitles recipients to access federal benefits, lifetime residency, work authorization, and a direct route to becoming a U.S. citizen.”
The number, 680,000 isn’t “an estimate of total migration, as it does not include temporary migrants who return home, nor is it an estimate of population change, as it does not include births or deaths, among other considerations.”
President Obama has also directed his administration to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees by 2016.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one-quarter of the U.S. population, over 41 million, is now either foreign-born or has foreign-born parents. Data from Pew Polling shows that 83% percent of the American public oppose increasing the baseline for immigration and believe that it should either be frozen or reduced.
Below is a list of the green cards given out from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2013:
Pakistan (83K), Iraq (83K), Bangladesh (75K), Iran (73K), Egypt (45K), Somalia (31K), Uzbekistan (24K), Turkey (22K), Morocco (22K), Jordan (20K), Albania (20K), Lebanon (16K), Yemen (16K), Indonesia (15K), Syria (14K), Sudan (13K), Afghanistan (11K), Sierra Leone (10K), Guinea (8K), Senegal (7K), Saudi Arabia (7K), Algeria (7K), Kazakhstan (7K), Kuwait (5K), Gambia (5K), United Arab Emirates (4K), Azerbaijan (4K), Mali (3K), Burkina Faso (3K), Kyrgyzstan (3K), Kosovo (3K), Mauritania (2K), Tunisia (2K), Tajikistan (2K), Libya (2K), Turkmenistan (1K), Qatar (1K), Chad (1K)