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

All arrestees go before a federal immigration judge who determines if he or she will ultimately be removed from the country. — Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 2 Oct. 2026

Trump sought to rally Republicans by attacking Democrats over inflation and immigration, repeating claims about the number and backgrounds of migrants who entered the country during the Biden administration. — ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026

Immigration and the border California law bars local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials except in the cases of people convicted of certain high-level felonies. — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026

The use of small cages to punish immigration detainees in the Florida Everglades may have violated international law on humane treatment, experts told the Miami Herald. — Claire Healy, Miami Herald, 2 Oct. 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