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Encyclopedia of American Immigration, 2nd Edition

New Jersey

by Michael Shally-Jensen

Significance: Because of New Jersey’s location next to New York Harbor, the state historically drew many immigrants entering the United States through its main port of entry. This pattern has continued into the twenty-first century, as new immigrants have arrived at the international airports in Newark, New Jersey, and nearby New York City. Although the state’s earliest immigrants were mostly from Europe; by the end of the twentieth century, New Jersey was one of the top-ranking states in percentages of immigrants from Mexico, China, and the Philippines, and it was also welcoming significant numbers of immigrants from India and the Dominican Republic.

One of the thirteen original colonies, New Jersey drew its earliest immigrants from England. Many of them were Quakers and Baptists seeking religious freedom. After the United States achieved its independence, the heaviest influx of European immigrants into New Jersey began arriving during the 1840s. Later, Irish immigrants came as laborers. Possessing the advantage of already speaking English, they quickly became prominent in political life and would eventually come to dominate the governments of such major cities as Jersey City, Trenton, and Paterson. German immigrants were slower to arrive, but by 1890 there were about 120,000 foreign-born Germans that settled in New Jersey. They were prominent as craftsmen and established reputations as skilled glassmakers and woodworkers. Many Italian immigrants relocated from New York City to New Jersey. Others came directly from Italy and worked as farmers in the rural southern portion of the state. Over time, however, many of these people gravitated to industrial cities such as Trenton and Newark.

Modern Trends

By the turn of the twenty-first century, New Jersey had one of the richest mixtures of world cultures in the United States, with people from nearly one hundred different nations speaking more than 165 different languages. By 2014, approximately 21.9 percent of the state’s 8.9 million residents were foreign born, with a 32.8 percent increase in the foreign-born population between 2000 and 2014. About 45.7 percent of the foreign-born residents were Latin Americans, 32.5 percent were Asians, 15.6 percent were Europeans, and 5.2 percent were Africans. The largest single national group among the foreign-born New Jersey residents were Indians, who constituted 11.9 percent of the foreign-born population. They were followed by immigrants from Mexico (6.7 percent), China (5.1 percent), the Philippines (4.5 percent), and Colombia (4 percent), in that order.

New Jersey has a comparatively high rate of naturalization among its immigrant communities. In 2014, 54.4 percent of its foreign-born residents were naturalized citizens. Although immigrants as a whole were more likely than native-born Americans to live in poverty, naturalized immigrants were less likely to live in poverty than natives. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated there are approximately 430,000 undocumented immigrants in New Jersey.

Among the findings of a 2009 advisory report on immigration was the fact that one-third of all children in New Jersey were members of families with at least one foreign-born parent. Consequently, the state needed more instruction in English as a second language and more resources for preschool children.

Several positive factors were noted in the report. Immigrants were less likely than native-born New Jersey residents to be incarcerated or on public assistance. Immigrants were also more likely to be employed, although they generally received lower wages. More than 40 percent of the state’s scientists and engineers with higher degrees were foreign born, as were medical professionals. Without these foreign-born professionals New Jersey would face serious shortages.

As of 2018, the number of immigrants in New Jersey stood at about 2 million, making up 23 percent of the state population. Asian Indians remained the single largest group of immigrants (13 percent of immigrants), followed by those from the Dominican Republic (10 percent), Mexico (5 percent), and other countries. The number of undocumented immigrants had grown slightly, to 475,000. Over 16,000 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients resided in the state, and together with undocumented immigrants they paid approximately $662 million in state and local taxes.

Further Reading

1 

Deyrup, Marta M. The Irish Experience in New Jersey and Metropolitan New York. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014.

2 

“Immigrants in New Jersey.” American Immigration Council, August 6, 2020, www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigrants-in-new-jersey.

3 

Lurie, Maxine N., and Richard Veit, eds. New Jersey: A History of the Garden State. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2012.

4 

Rodriguez, Robyn Magalit. In Liberty’s Shadow: The Politics of Race and Immigration in New Jersey. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2017.

5 

Shaw, Douglas V. Immigration and Ethnicity in New Jersey. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1994.

6 

“New Americans in New Jersey: The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in the Garden State.” American Immigration Council, January 1, 2015. Accessed October 21, 2016. www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/new-americans-new-jersey.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Shally-Jensen, Michael. "New Jersey." Encyclopedia of American Immigration, 2nd Edition, edited by Michael Shally-Jensen, Salem Press, 2021. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=AmImm2e_0425.
APA 7th
Shally-Jensen, M. (2021). New Jersey. In M. Shally-Jensen (Ed.), Encyclopedia of American Immigration, 2nd Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Shally-Jensen, Michael. "New Jersey." Edited by Michael Shally-Jensen. Encyclopedia of American Immigration, 2nd Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2021. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.