The American immigrant experience is not purely a matter of newsworthy stories, situations involving an immigration lawyer, or political matters. We often lose track of the everyday reality of growing up as an immigrant child, with many of the daily challenges they face entirely missed.
In this report, we’ll consider some of those challenges, and some of the subsequent hard-earned rewards. We’ll focus on immigrant children who are often the crucial bridge between two languages spoken at home, the burden this causes and the potential boost this provides to their future job prospects; the disproportionate levels of poverty faced by the immigrant children of noncitizen parents; and the varying levels of state support to students learning English as a second language.
Let’s start by considering some key immigrant statistics.
One in Four Children Has an Immigrant Parent
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Surveys of 2024, almost 20 million (26%, around one in four) U.S. children have at least one immigrant parent. Of these, 12% of all children are U.S. citizens with a noncitizen parent, 11% are citizens with a naturalized parent, and just 3% are noncitizens. That means that 88% of these children are U.S. citizens despite their parents’ immigration status.
This is a long-term demographic shift. In 2000, children of immigrants made up about one in five children; that number became just under one in four during the 2010s, and is now slightly higher (just over one in four, or 26%). By 2050, second-generation Americans are expected to comprise 16% of all adults, double the 8% they represented in 2012.
These families are also highly diverse, with around half of immigrant children Hispanic, one in five Asian, and 15% white. Most are not new arrivals: over 40% have parents who have lived in the U.S. for over 20 years, while slightly fewer have been in the country between 10 and 19 years.
Economic circumstances vary significantly depending on a parent’s citizenship status. While the national child poverty rate is about 18%, for children of immigrants this ranges from 9% for children with no additional risk factors to 48% for those with noncitizen parents, limited parental English, low education levels, and fewer than ten years in the U.S. Children with only noncitizen parents are three to four times more likely to live in poverty than those with citizen parents.
Family structure is another key determinant. 74% of children in immigrant families live with two married parents, compared with 61% of children in U.S.-born families. However, mothers in immigrant families are less likely to work (47% vs. 58%), reflecting caregiving responsibilities, language barriers, and licensing challenges.
A Third of U.S. Children Grow Up in Bilingual Homes
Around 10.8 million children under the age of nine (32%) are naturally bilingual, growing up using both English and another language before they start elementary school. Spanish is the most common home language, followed by Chinese languages, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Hindi.
Bilingual households often equip children with cognitive and problem-solving advantages, but they can also create academic challenges if parents with low English proficiency struggle to help with English-language schoolwork. As a result, children or older siblings may take on greater educational responsibility. Far from being a niche experience, bilingual learning is a mainstream feature of childhood for one in three young children in the United States.
Where Children With an Immigrant Parent Live
While one in four U.S. children has an immigrant parent, their distribution across the United States varies sharply by state. Based on 2024 figures, California leads, with 45% of state children (around 3.8 million) having an immigrant parent, the highest national share and total number. New Jersey (43%) and New York (38%, around 1.5 million children) follow, while for Florida (1.6 million) and Nevada (237,000) the share is 36%. Texas (33%), Massachusetts (33%), Maryland (32%), Washington (31%) and Rhode Island (30%) complete the top 10.
Texas is notable because, despite its sixth-placed share ranking, it’s home to 2.5 million children of immigrants (the second-largest total after California).
Maryland is the perfect test case to illustrate how rapidly this demographic has expanded. Its share of children with immigrant parents was 15% in the early 2000s; today, it’s 32%, a 17 percentage point increase. Nationally, the share has grown in nearly every state since 2000 (and has more than doubled in 16 states), confirming that immigrant families are now a nationwide demographic trend.
This growth is reflected by school data, with more than 5.3 million English learner (EL) students enrolled in K–12 public schools, accounting for nearly 11% of all public school students. States featuring the largest immigrant-family populations, including California, Texas, and Nevada, also feature the highest proportion of EL students.
At the opposite end of the scale, West Virginia (3%) and Mississippi (under 5%) feature the country’s lowest shares of children with immigrant parents, highlighting stark regional differences. Overall, 10 states (plus the District of Columbia) now have more than one in five children living with an immigrant parent, making this a defining characteristic of the next generation as opposed to a niche demographic.
Another commonplace U.S. immigrant issue: children of immigrant parents who necessarily use two languages in the home, often acting as intermediaries in many key aspects of immigrant life.
Between Two Languages
The bilingual nature of many immigrant homes can often mean that the children of immigrants develop unique strengths and become burdened by significant responsibilities.
Around 56% of children of immigrants are bilingual: they speak English fluently while also using another language at home. This is often a matter of family circumstances: 59% have at least one parent with limited English proficiency; among those children, 68% necessarily become bilingual, and often become the family’s means of communication with English-speaking institutions. Just 10% of children of immigrant parents solely speak English (21% remain limited in their English proficiency).
Spanish accounts for the majority of immigrant home languages, with 71% of bilingual children of immigrants speaking Spanish. The remaining 29% speak languages that include Hindi, Chinese, Arabic, French and Vietnamese. Bilingualism varies significantly across the country: its rate in areas such as McAllen, Texas, and Bakersfield, California is between 69% and 71%; in cities such as Honolulu and Jacksonville the rate falls between 26% and 32%.
For many children of immigrant parents, bilingualism becomes a matter of ‘language brokering’: acting as interpreters for their parents to arrange and organize medical appointments, translate school documents or navigate government and legal systems. Research shows this phenomenon is widespread, with up to 90% of immigrant and refugee children to some extent assuming the role of translator. While this can strengthen family bonds, language skills and a sense of independence, it can also create significant pressure, with 18-20% of child ‘language brokers’ experiencing significant psychological distress linked to high levels of responsibility.
Despite such challenges, children of immigrants are deeply integrated into American life. Around 66% speak English fluently, and the vast majority complete high school at a rate that’s comparable to non-immigrant peers (92%). As adults, second-generation Americans report higher median household incomes ($58,000 compared to the $46,000 earned by first-generation adults) and lower poverty rates (11% compared to 18%), reflecting a significant upward mobility shift.
Yet a persistent concern is that of rising immigration-related anxiety. A 2025 Child Development Perspectives survey found that 27% of immigrant parents felt their children worried about something immigration-related happening to a family member; this concern rose to six in ten immigrant parents of undocumented families. Other reported negative consequences included sleep or eating problems (18%), issues regarding school performance or attendance (14%) and changes in behavior (12%). Medical care was also affected, with 14% of immigrant parents reporting that their child had delayed or missed care appointments due to immigration fears, a number that rose to 43% among undocumented parents.
The American Academy of Pediatrics identifies the fear of parental deportation and family separation as a type of toxic stress, warning that this kind of prolonged anxiety can affect children’s physical, mental and behavioral health, irrespective of their own citizenship.
Ultimately, one in four children of immigrant parents are subject to significant levels of responsibility. Not only are they responsible for acting as translators and mediators while at school or work, they must also contend with very real fears tied to their parents’ status.
The Economic and Communal Immigrant Contribution
The economic role of immigrant families is significant. In the most recent year that was measured, immigrant households contributed $382.9 billion in federal taxes and $196.3 billion in state and local taxes, while concurrently holding $1.6 trillion in spending power that helped to boost their local economies.
Even undocumented immigrants were significant contributors, paying $96.7 billion in combined taxes (an average of $8,889 per person), including $25.7 billion to Social Security (despite most undocumented immigrants being ineligible to claim benefits). Recent immigration is projected to add $348 billion in Social Security revenue between 2024 and 2034, while the workers subsidizing that sum are projected to utilize just $1 billion of it, representing a nearly 350-to-1 return.
Overall, immigrants make up around 14-15% of the U.S. population yet recently generated approximately $1.7 trillion in economic activity. They paid more than $167 billion in rent and hold $6.6 trillion in housing wealth, reflecting long-term investment in American communities.
Entrepreneurship is another major immigrant contributory factor. Immigrants and their children founded more than 20% of new U.S. businesses during the past year, while 46% of Fortune 500 companies have immigrant or immigrant-child founders. Immigrant-owned businesses are also more likely to create jobs: 91% employ at least one worker compared with 84% of new businesses overall. Collectively, majority immigrant-owned businesses employ one in seven private-sector workers and generate more than $1 trillion every year.
The next generation of immigrants is in line to continue this economic trend. Adult children of immigrants account for 7% of the U.S. healthcare workforce (over 1.4 million people), including 11% of physicians and surgeons. Research also shows children of immigrants contribute $1,700 per person to state and local budgets, with their children adding another $1,300, creating a multi-generational financial infusion.
Bilingual Earner Potential
The bilingual skills many children develop at home often also become a long-term economic asset. Multilingual employees earn (on average) 19% more than monolingual workers, with premiums ranging between 5% and 20% depending on the combination of industry and language. Bilingual MBA graduates earn up to 22% higher starting salaries than monolingual peers.
Demand for these skills is high, with 90% of U.S. employers dependent on having some employees who speak non-English languages, and 56% expecting their dependency to increase over the next five years. For someone who earns $80,000, a 19% wage premium represents around $15,200 extra earnings per year, potentially adding hundreds of thousands of dollars across a lifetime’s earnings. So, a skill developed out of necessity as a child often becomes a lasting adult economic advantage.
Evolving Citizenship Worries
As this campaign makes clear: there’s a huge immigrant population that collectively represents an overwhelmingly American, deeply established and economically vital demographic. Yet the legal and policy-based foundations of immigrant life in the U.S. have recently undergone a radical shift that’s created uncertainty regarding issues that directly affect millions of children.
One of the key issues has been birthright citizenship. In January 2025, an executive order attempted to restrict automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. to specific noncitizen parents. The issue reached the Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled 6-3 that the 14th Amendment protects birthright citizenship irrespective of parental status. The fact that citizenship became a legal question up for debate emphasizes the scale of uncertainty immigrant families faced.
Healthcare access is another major concern. Under the 2025 federal tax and budget reconciliation law, the Congressional Budget Office projected that 1.4 million lawfully present immigrants will lose health coverage by 2034. The breakdown of those numbers is: 100,000 through Medicaid and CHIP restrictions, 1.2 million through ACA Marketplace changes, and 100,000 through Medicare changes. The people affected include refugees, asylum seekers, trafficking and domestic violence survivors, visa holders and other legally established immigrants, many of them parents of U.S. citizen children.
Immigration enforcement policies have also undergone significant changes. On January 20, 2025, federal protections limiting enforcement in schools, hospitals and churches were rescinded. The impact on children was immediate: subsequent enforcement activity was linked to a 22% increase in daily student absences, especially among younger students.
Around 5.5 million U.S. citizen children live with at least one undocumented parent; 1.8 million live with two undocumented parents. In total, 9.7 million U.S. citizens live in households with someone who is undocumented, meaning that, at any time, enforcement actions could disrupt families through the loss of caregivers, housing, and vital financial stability (even when the child’s citizenship is already secure).
Modeling estimates suggest that the economic impact of a large-scale deportation could reduce GDP by 4.2% to 6.8%, losses equivalent to $1.1 trillion-$1.7 trillion. The impact to workforces could be seismic, with the potential loss of 1.5 million construction workers, 1 million hospitality workers, 870,000 manufacturing workers, 461,000 transportation and warehousing workers, and 225,000 agricultural workers. Add to these annual losses of $46.8 billion in federal tax revenue and $29.3 billion in state and local revenue.
Everyday Immigration Fears Take an Immeasurable Toll on Children
Census Bureau data tells us that nearly 20 million U.S. children (26%, or one in four) have at least one immigrant parent. This population is overwhelmingly American: 88% of these children are U.S. citizens, including those with noncitizen or naturalized parents. This represents a long-term demographic shift, with second-generation Americans projected to comprise 16% of adults by 2050.
The population is unevenly spread across states. California leads: 45% of its children having an immigrant parent. There are also significant populations in New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Maryland and Massachusetts; conversely, West Virginia features just 3%. More than 5.3 million English learners now attend U.S. public schools, making multilingual education a nationwide reality.
For many children of immigrant parents, bilingualism becomes a matter of ‘language brokering’: acting as interpreters for their parents to arrange and organize medical appointments, translate school documents or navigate government and legal systems.
The children in question often develop valuable bilingual skills: 56% are bilingual; many become language brokers for their families. While this can strengthen adaptability and responsibility, some experience added pressure due to translating adult responsibilities. Despite these challenges, children of immigrants prosper, with around 92% completing high school and second-generation adults reporting higher incomes and lower poverty rates than first-generation adults.
Ultimately, the immigrant population represents a central part of America’s economic and cultural future. As things stand, too often the children of immigrant parents bear an unsustainably stressful burden.
An immigration lawyer is a trained and certified legal advisor who can process legal documents during or after a migration process. At The Mendoza Law Firm we’ve spent more than 16 years changing stories and defending the rights of immigrants, and regularly represent immigrants and families who are going through the relocation process to the United States. We have proudly represented countless successful cases. Send your case to us today and we’ll evaluate it.