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 Challenger report also notes that as the immigration enforcement crackdown continues, employers in affected areas will be pushed to rely heavily on local teens. —Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 2 June 2026

Has the price paid by our nation over the past year been worth the zealous methods employed by immigration enforcement agencies? —Sheldon Jacobson, Twin Cities, 2 June 2026

Federal judges — not immigration judges employed by the DOJ — oversee these cases. —Jaclyn Diaz, NPR, 2 June 2026

Adding another explosive layer to the case is Escoto's immigration history. —Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 2 June 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