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Leading the growth from that region was Saudi Arabia, with 43,878
immigrants nearly double the number who were in the U.S. in 2010.
The analysis shows that 88,894 Saudis lived in this country last year.
Iraq was next, with about 41,094 immigrants, for a 26 percent increase
to a total of 200, 894.
But the total number of immigrants from predominantly Muslim
countries totaled 295,743 in the period, according to the CIS study.
That was up by 13.5 percent.
The total number of immigrants from primarily Muslim countries in the
U.S. was more than 2.4 million last year, compared with 2.1 million in
2010 and 1.5 million in 2000.
Camarota attributed the rise in Mideast immigration to myriad U.S.
policies, whether they granted asylum or refugee status to people from
the region or involved the nations defense forces.
Once there is a presence, the possibility of going to the United States
becomes a much more realistic possibility, he said. The presence of
the United States in a country in a big way, whether its Afghanistan or
Iraq, tends to spur immigration.
Overall, however, the Middle East is only fourth among regions of the
world from where people emigrate to the U.S.
The leader is south Asia, which was up 372,546, or 16 percent, to 2.7
million; east Asia, up 364,909, or 5 percent, to 7.8 million; and the
Caribbean, up 223,011, or 6 percent, to more than 3.9 million
immigrants.
China is No. 1 in east Asia, with 217,305 people coming from that
country in the period, or 10 percent, for a total of 2.3 million last year.