Second-generation immigrants in the United States

Second-generation Americans in the United States are individuals born in the United States who have at least one foreign born parent. Although there is some ambiguity in reference to the definition of second-generation Americans, this definition is cited by major research centers such as the United States Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center.

Second-generation Americans are U.S. citizens by birth. U.S. citizenship is guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; but political debate over repealing this right has increased in recent years. Advocates of this motion claim that this right attracts unauthorized immigration to the U.S. The repeal of birthright citizenship would have the greatest impact on second-generation Americans who are Mexican Americans, as Mexico is the country of origin for the majority of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

The growing presence of first-generation immigrants in the U.S. has led to a growth in the percentage of the population that can be categorized as second-generation Americans. This is due to immigrants being more likely than native born adults to have children. In 2009, immigrants, both legal and unauthorized, were the parents of 23% of all children in the U.S. The process by which second-generation immigrants undergo assimilation into U.S. society affects their economic successes and educational attainments, with the general trend being an improvement in earnings and education relative to the parental generation. Second-generation Americans have an increasingly important impact on the national labor force and ethnic makeup.

In 2009, 33 million people in the United States were second-generation immigrants, representing 11% of the national population. There are significant differences in income and education levels between the second generation immigrant population and the first generation immigrant population in the United States. Second-generation immigrants are doing better overall and are assimilating more successfully into U.S. society.

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