New York City has always had a greater percentage of immigrants as part of its total population than the U.S. as a whole. Right before World War I, over 40% of its population was immigrants. After restrictions were passed in the 1920s, immigrants as a percentage of the city’s population dropped to 18% by 1970, before bouncing back up to 36% in 2000. Read more about NYC’s immigrant population one hundred years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
