immigration

noun

im·​mi·​gra·​tion ˌi-mə-ˈgrā-shən 

plural immigrations

: an act or instance of immigrating

specifically : travel into a country for the purpose of permanent residence there

Especially during these months when there has been constant talk of immigration and its myriad challenges, both here and on European national borders …

—Bob Greene

illegal/legal immigration

immigration reform/policy/law

Drawing historical comparisons is always a fraught process, especially when the subject is as contentious as immigration.

—James Hannan

There is only a passing comment on Chinese and Japanese immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, plus a short section on the truly global wave of immigrants that swept into America after the Second World War …

—Nicholas Guyatt

The Middle Ages is the story of successive migrations and immigrations …

—Janet L. Nelson

immigrational

ˌi-mə-ˈgrā-sh(ə-)nəl 

adjective

studied the region's immigrational history

Examples of immigration in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The immigrant father of a sailor on board the beleaguered USS Abraham Lincoln was detained Saturday by immigration officials, family members said. — Dennis Romero, NBC news, 24 Aug. 2026

Major immigration raids focusing on Haitians in the US haven’t been reported. — Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026

At one office, about 99% of work was dedicated to immigration, leaving almost no capacity for fentanyl investigations, the watchdog found. — Ariana Figueroa, Baltimore Sun, 23 Aug. 2026

In the summer of 2025, immigration agents, dressed in tactical gear and riding on horses and in armored vehicles, made a show of force through MacArthur Park trying to strike fear into the immigrant community. — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1625, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for immigration

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation