immigration
Americannoun
-
the movement of non-native people into a country in order to settle there
-
the part of a port, airport, etc where government employees examine the passports, visas, etc of foreign nationals entering the country
Other Word Forms
- anti-immigration adjective
- immigrational adjective
- immigratory adjective
- nonimmigration noun
- preimmigration noun
- proimmigration adjective
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.
“Despite evidence of a substantial drop in net immigration, the government and key opposition parties continue to advocate reducing levels further,” economists at Oxford Economics said in a note to clients.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
The woman requested to be identified by her middle and last initials, B.B., out of concern for her immigration case.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
In Florida, a viral video shows a woman, overwhelmed with emotion, pleading with an immigration judge to free her terminally ill father from ICE detention.
From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026
I got a man out of immigration detention last week.
From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026
Like the second theory, this one considers modern Japanese to be slightly modified Koreans but dispenses with the need for large-scale immigration.
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.
