Stunning.
As of 2025, it is estimated that 42% of the US population is either an immigrant or the child of an immigrant.
This is up from about 20% in 1970 when just 4.7% of the population was foreign born.
I have a post coming up in a few weeks, on my coldstreams.com blog that takes a look at the term “heritage American” – a term that has sort of blown up on social media recently. It generally refers to those who trace ancestry back to the early colonies in what would become the U.S., and generally those who trace to English or Scottish ancestry.
In the post, you’ll learn that the term “heritage American” has, in some cases, been used by some to classify themselves as “original Americans” or “more Americans than others” – and is now being used, sometimes, on political contexts to push agendas.
The right seems to use the term to negatively comment on recent immigrants, while the left seems to use the term to negatively comment on those who do not have recent immigrant ties – in other words “old Americans” are out of touch, behind the times, and immigrants are better people.