immigration
Americannoun
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the movement of non-native people into a country in order to settle there
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the part of a port, airport, etc where government employees examine the passports, visas, etc of foreign nationals entering the country
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonimmigrationnoun
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preimmigrationnoun
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anti-immigrationadjective
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immigrationaladjective
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immigratoryadjective
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proimmigrationadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of immigration
Explanation
Immigration is the process of moving to a new country to stay. New York's Ellis Island was considered a gateway for European immigration to the United States during the early 1900's. Nowadays, people immigrate through airports instead of islands. The word migration is in immigration, which is something we think of birds doing when they fly South for the winter. It's not an accident — if American birds had little passports, they'd have to go through immigration when they got to Mexico. When humans immigrate, they have to follow the rules of the new country or else they risk getting in trouble. Immigration is the act of going to a new country, while emigration refers to the process of leaving one.
Vocabulary lists containing immigration
Human Geography - Middle School
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The United States
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Human Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The budget includes Newsom’s proposal to shift enrollees with unsatisfactory immigration status, a term that includes undocumented immigrants and others, from managed care to fee-for-service to save costs.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
In the 35 years after reunification, the country's overall population grew by 3.8 million, a 5% increase - driven by immigration.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
While formal discussions have begun with Mexico, which has a larger amount of issues on the table including security and immigration, relations with Canada remain fraught.
From Barron's • Jun. 29, 2026
Lau that immigration officers can now deport and deny lawful permanent residents — green card holders — entry into the country if they reasonably believe that the residents have committed a crime involving “moral turpitude.”
From Salon • Jun. 28, 2026
In places where they were already numerous or where geography retarded immigration by food producers, local hunter-gatherers did have time to adopt farming in prehistoric times and thus to survive as farmers.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
