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.
See Examples For:
In fact—as can be seen in the immigration patterns to the U.S. from China and India—emigrants can be “among the most privileged and educated of their nations.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Some illegally sent data from the system to immigration agents.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
The state department also said shared goals included halting illegal immigration through "closer coordination on border security".
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Civilian video has also played a significant role in challenging official accounts of other controversial immigration enforcement encounters.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
At the same time, the US government halted all immigration from Europe.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
The move comes as local governments move to help immigrations caught up in the raids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2025
But now parts of Los Angeles have erupted in protests after immigrations officers intensified their raids at workplaces.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2025
It noted that illegal crossings were still down 27% from July 2022 and were well below the days that preceded the new immigrations rules.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
Beck-Mewing said rents were rebounding after many property owners dropped rents during COVID, and will likely to continue to increase in 2023 due to increased rental demand after immigrations allowances were raised by almost one-third.
From Reuters ● Dec. 19, 2022
Most Fijian social units derive their origin from this or similar legendary immigrations.
From A Racial Study of the Fijians by Gabel, Norman E.
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.
