100 US Metro Areas ranked by Intl Migration, 2000-2005

[dimondpark]

100 US Metros Ranked by Intl Migration, 2000-2005

1 New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA 939,656
2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA 748,484
3 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA 362,344
4 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL 332,229
5 Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI 308,243
6 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 234,049
7 Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV 228,964
8 Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX 4,815,122 211,880
9 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL 155,202
10 Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-NH 154,574
11 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 134,412
12 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 91,725
13 Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA 89,972
14 Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI 85,833
15 Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO 82,613
16 Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD 78,378
17 Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI 60,536
18 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 55,277
19 Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump, NV 1,408,250 1,751,028 53,171
20 Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Truckee, CA-NV 51,484
21 Orlando-The Villages, FL 51,092
22 Austin-Round Rock, TX 47,204
23 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL 47,022
24 Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC 46,067
25 Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC 40,494
26 Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield, UT 37,426
27 Fresno-Madera, CA 31,515
28 Greensboro--Winston-Salem--High Point, NC 31,189
29 San Antonio, TX 27,063
30 McAllen-Edinburg-Pharr, TX 26,572
31 El Paso, TX 25,116
32 Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH 24,768
33 Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS 24,076
34 Honolulu, HI 23,631
35 Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH 23,559
36 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA 23,285
37 Salinas, CA 22,815
38 St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL 22,416
39 Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, CT 21,215
40 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Columbia, TN 20,853
41 Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha, WI 20,012
42 Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, IN 18,598
43 Tucson, AZ 18,186
44 Stockton, CA 17,183
45 Oklahoma City-Shawnee, OK 17,080
46 Bakersfield, CA 16,713
47 Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, MI 15,704
48 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA 14,528
49 Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN 14,187
50 Naples-Marco Island, FL 13,608
51 Visalia-Porterville, CA 13,103
52 Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA 13,057
53 Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC 12,709
54 Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville, TX 12,080
55 Modesto, CA 11,723
56 Jacksonville, FL 11,541
57 Rochester-Batavia-Seneca Falls, NY 11,263
58 Albuquerque, NM 11,189
59 Richmond, VA 11,022
60 Memphis, TN-MS-AR 10,753
61 Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL 10,701
62 Tulsa-Bartlesville, OK 10,636
63 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC 10,578
64 Louisville-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, KY-IN 10,490
65 Salem, OR 10,483
66 Madison-Baraboo, WI 10,274
67 Omaha-Council Bluffs-Fremont, NE-IA 10,229
68 Springfield, MA 10,123
69 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 10,075
70 Reno-Sparks, NV 9,814
71 Laredo, TX 9,258
72 New Orleans-Metairie-Bogalusa, LA 8,586
73 Lexington-Fayette--Frankfort--Richmond, KY 8,539
74 Des Moines-Newton-Pella, IA 8,375
75 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ 8,366
76 Wichita-Winfield, KS 8,364
77 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO 8,109
78 Albany-Schenectady-Amsterdam, 8,107
79 Provo-Orem, UT 8,009
80 Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY 7,887
81 Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL 7,880
82 Lansing-East Lansing-Owosso, MI 7,361
83 Merced, CA 7,236
84 Colorado Springs, CO 7,143
85 Columbia-Newberry, SC 7,039
86 Lakeland, FL 6,876
87 Atlantic City, NJ 6,830
88 Boise City-Nampa, ID 6,733
89 Lafayette-Frankfort, IN 6,700
90 College Station-Bryan, TX 6,402
91 Syracuse-Auburn, NY 6,250
92 El Centro, CA 6,153
93 Yuma, AZ 6,151
94 Rockford-Freeport-Rochelle, IL 6,121
95 Yakima, WA 222, 6,034
96 Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, WA 6,019
97 Champaign-Urbana, IL 5,804
98 Dalton, GA 5,391
99 Lincoln, NE 5,374
100 Fort Wayne-Huntington-Auburn, IN 5,360

http://www.demographia.com/db-2005migintl.pdf
__________________

[fleonzo]

Great info and thanks for including the link!!!

[SunDevil]

Just by looking at the Phoenix and San Diego numbers, I assume this doesn't try to account for illegal immigration?

[newplace]

Just by looking at the Phoenix and San Diego numbers, I assume this doesn't try to account for illegal immigration?

LOL, dude that comment made my day even if you were not trying to be funny. Thanks for that.

[totheskies]

29 San Antonio, TX 27,063
30 McAllen-Edinburg-Pharr, TX 26,572
31 El Paso, TX 25,116


The most scewed list ever ;);););)

Why even do a list like this for the border cities????

[hudkina]

Because the numbers are based on legal migration.

[brickell]

You'd be crazy to think the other large immigrant centers don't have their share of illegals also.

[MIAMISKYLINE]

I don't think this is counting illegals.

[edluva]

i take it la won't be surpassing ny in the near future then?

[MIAMISKYLINE]

i take it la won't be surpassing ny in the near future then?

No CITY can surpass the city of IMMIGRANTS.

[wrightchr]

I'm really surprised Harrisburg, PA was #106 with over 4,000 net. I thought it would have been much less.

[dktshb]

i take it la won't be surpassing ny in the near future then?


My question is do either: #2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA 748,484
or #12 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 91,725 include the Orange County cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana because I don't see either of the cities on the list?

[Trae]

They most likely do. I doubt a place like Orange County would not be counted.

[BTinSF]

You'd be crazy to think the other large immigrant centers don't have their share of illegals also.

The point is that cities near the southern border often have rather few LEGAL immigrants, but very many illegals. So while they rank low on a list like this, they are actually places with many immigrants. Elsewhere it's more balanced. San Francisco, New York, Miami and LA, for example, have plenty of both so they show up high on the list even though they too have quite a few immigrants not being counted.

[edluva]

yeah, i haven't heard of source which refers to an LA metro which includes the IE but not Orange County.

[dktshb]

yeah, i haven't heard of source which refers to an LA metro which includes the IE but not Orange County. Well you'd think that they would either include Anaheim or Santa Ana in place of Long Beach so we'd know for sure. I would think either of those cities could be in the top 20 on its own.

[JMininger]

i take it la won't be surpassing ny in the near future then?

My impression is that NYC is an immigrant factory. They come in, get setup, earn some money and then a relatively high percentage leave. I remember seeing some figures awhile back discussing the demographics of incoming vs outgoing populations supporting that general impression. A high number of immigrants continue to come in and yet the overall metro growth is relatively slow and it has been that way for decades. The demographics of who is leaving and coming in is changing too. For example, I read an article in the Times stating that the black population has declined dramatically in The Bronx largely due to gentrification and increased property values, rents, etc., instead moving to New Jersey and even as far as eastern PA ... although that doesn't change the metro area numbers much. Also seems like NYC has a different profile for immigrants. In other words, it has a higher percentage of immigrants that do NOT come from Mexico than most places. Will it change? Who knows? I do know that there has been articles talking about the prohibitive expense of areas in the city itself that historically have had large immigrant populations. I also get the impression that LA retains a higher percentage of its immigrants over a longer period of time. Like I said, just a general impression .... based solely on some newspaper articles, time spent in both cities, listening to conversations from relatives that are lifelong residents of NYC about how this area or that has changed over the years, and a couple of interesting conversations I've had with taxi drivers in Manhattan :)

[totheskies]

My impression is that NYC is an immigrant factory. They come in, get setup, earn some money and then a relatively high percentage leave. I remember seeing some figures awhile back discussing the demographics of incoming vs outgoing populations supporting that general impression. A high number of immigrants continue to come in and yet the overall metro growth is relatively slow and it has been that way for decades. The demographics of who is leaving and coming in is changing too. For example, I read an article in the Times stating that the black population has declined dramatically in The Bronx largely due to gentrification and increased property values, rents, etc., instead moving to New Jersey and even as far as eastern PA ... although that doesn't change the metro area numbers much. Also seems like NYC has a different profile for immigrants. In other words, it has a higher percentage of immigrants that do NOT come from Mexico than most places. Will it change? Who knows? I do know that there has been articles talking about the prohibitive expense of areas in the city itself that historically have had large immigrant populations. I also get the impression that LA retains a higher percentage of its immigrants over a longer period of time. Like I said, just a general impression .... based solely on some newspaper articles, time spent in both cities, listening to conversations from relatives that are lifelong residents of NYC about how this area or that has changed over the years, and a couple of interesting conversations I've had with taxi drivers in Manhattan :)

True... another interesting note with Manhattan is the family connections. So many people can emigrate to New York b/c a family member is already in the states, and owns a prominent business. Once they make it into the country, they are set up on the company payroll (legally or illegally) until they expand the business or do something on their own. The Ellis Island process may be gone, but NY's role hasn't diminished in the 21st century.

[Tom In Chicago]

Those are typical Wendell Cox Demographia numbers. . . regardless of how seemingly accurate the cities rank in this list, I wouldn't trust them to apply the same methods equally. . . they're a pretty useless organization and roundly criticized here on these forums. . .

[edluva]

My question is do either: #2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA 748,484
or #12 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 91,725 include the Orange County cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana because I don't see either of the cities on the list?

i highly doubt any semi-reputable list would ever lump OC with SD. that just goes without saying.

[Urbanguy]

Canada and US figures: These are the official immigrant/legal permanent resident numbers of each country and are for the fiscal years 1997-2006. The numbers for US cities are for CBSA's (PMSAs?) and MSAs only and are not representative of the entire metro areas for those that have CSAs. Note: Canadian metros are underlined.
I tried to find comparible numbers for metros in Australia, New Zealand and the UK but there was no such luck. :(

1 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA: 1,491,587
2 Toronto: 1,016,006
3 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA: 983,220
4 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL: 618,885
5 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI: 400,511
6 Vancouver: 344,781
7 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria-Rockville, DC-VA-MD-WV: 342,851
8 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA: 326,636
9 Montréal: 312,876
10 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX: 242,099
11 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 206,668
12 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH: 198,234
13 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA: 191,459
14 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA: 164,168
15 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD: 146,257
16 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA: 142,721
17 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA: 139,058
18 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA: 138,280
19 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI: 121,831
20 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ: 93,890
21 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI: 91,142
22 Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville-Woodland, CA: 90,715
23 Calgary: 89,275
24 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL: 72,439
25 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA: 72,088
26 Orlando-Kissimmee, FL: 70,743
27 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV: 67,289
28 Ottawa-Gatineau: 66,243
29 Denver-Aurora, CO: 65,278
30 Baltimore-Towson, MD: 55,488
31 Edmonton: 47,540
32 Honolulu, HI: 45,891
33 Winnipeg: 44,942
34 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT: 44,718
35 Fresno, CA: 42,754
36 El Paso, TX: 39,945
37 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA: 38,829
38 Saint Louis, MO-IL: 38,318
39 Austin-Round Rock, TX: 38,205
40 Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA: 37,707
41 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT: 36,840
42 San Antonio, TX: 36,103
43 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX: 34,080
44 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH: 33,516
45 Hamilton: 32,752
46 San Juan-Caguas-Guaynabo, PR: 32,536
47 Columbus, OH: 31,434
48 Stockton, CA: 29,046
49 Kansas City, MO-KS: 28,773
50 Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord-Rock Hill, NC-SC: 27,072
51 Salt Lake City, UT: 26,439
52 Windsor: 25,631
53 Jacksonville, FL: 25,096
54 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI: 24,286
55 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro, TN: 24,009
56 Kitchener: 23,597
57 New Haven-Milford, CT: 23,272
58 Raleigh-Cary, NC: 23,138
59 Worcester, MA: 22,828
60 Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN: 21,270
61 Pittsburgh, PA: 20,624
62 London: 20,621
63 Québec: 17,039
64 Halifax: 15,483
65 Naples-Marco Island, FL: 14,658
66 Abbotsford: 10,638

*Note there are probably a few more CBSAs/MSAs for the USA that added up to over 20,000 but below 25,000.


Sources: Citizenship & Immigration Canada & Department of Homeland Security - USA.

===============================================

Okay, now be prepared to be blown away by the USA's largest! The following figures are of the top 10 largest CBSA or MSA immigrant magnets in the USA for fiscal year 2006 by top source countries of birth numbering over 1,000. Also, look at DC, its definately one of the most diverse (besides NYC & LA) in terms of major world regions for its primary source countries.

BTW, I personally don't think that there is any other 'World City' that can compare to the sheer numbers and diversity of NYCs immigrants, its just amazing!

Fiscal year 2006 only

NYC
TOTAL: 224,444 :worship:

1 China, People's Republic: 25,078
2 Dominican Republic: 23,876
3 India: 11,478
4 Ecuador: 10,402
5 Jamaica: 9,873
6 Colombia: 8,910
7 Philippines: 8,108
8 Bangladesh: 7,582
9 Guyana: 6,961
10 Poland: 5,808
11 Trinidad and Tobago: 4,976
12 Peru: 4,879
13 Haiti: 4,862
14 Korea: 4,766
15 Pakistan: 4,384
16 El Salvador: 3,655
17 Mexico: 3,636
18 Egypt: 3,539
19 Ukraine: 3,171
20 Brazil: 2,861
21 Ghana: 2,528
22 Albania: 2,467
23 Serbia and Montenegro: 2,386
24 Nigeria: 2,257
25 Russia: 2,222
26 United Kingdom: 2,202
27 Israel: 1,879
28 Guatemala: 1,858
29 Yemen: 1,593
30 Uzbekistan: 1,518
31 Honduras: 1,490
32 Turkey: 1,484
33 Canada: 1,483
34 Cuba: 1,119
35 Soviet Union, former: 1,111
36 Japan: 1,099
37 Venezuela: 1,007

-------------------------------------

Los Angeles
TOTAL: 120,880

1 Mexico: 27,160
2 China, People's Republic: 12,843
3 Philippines: 10,910
4 El Salvador: 8,773
5 Guatemala: 6,753
6 Iran: 4,999
7 Korea: 4,920
8 Armenia: 4,898
9 Vietnam: 4,490
10 India: 2,675
11 Taiwan: 2,029
12 Peru: 1,453
13 Japan: 1,080
14 Egypt: 1,012
15 Cambodia: 1,011
16 Thailand: 1,004
17 United Kingdom: 1,003

-------------------------------------

Miami
TOTAL: 98,922

1 Cuba: 31,431
2 Colombia: 13,730
3 Haiti: 9,098
4 Jamaica: 5,245
5 Venezuela: 4,546
6 Peru: 3,860
7 Brazil: 2,644
8 Argentina: 2,401
9 Dominican Republic: 2,009
10 Mexico: 1,605
11 India: 1,564
12 Nicaragua: 1,413
13 Ecuador: 1,373
14 Honduras: 1,316
15 Philippines: 1,119

-------------------------------------

Washington DC
TOTAL: 54,556

1 El Salvador: 5,624
2 Ethiopia: 4,049
3 India: 2,294
4 Bolivia: 2,284
5 China, People's Republic: 2,207
6 Peru: 2,176
7 Korea: 2,072
8 Philippines: 1,932
9 Pakistan: 1,596
10 Ghana: 1,580
11 Nigeria: 1,299
12 Vietnam: 1,237
13 Mexico: 1,176
14 Guatemala: 1,138
15 Sierra Leone: 1,085
16 Iran: 1,003

-------------------------------------

Chicago
TOTAL: 49,755

1 Mexico: 11,263
2 Poland: 5,498
3 India: 4,322
4 Philippines: 3,875
5 China, People's Republic: 2,225
6 Ukraine: 1,404
7 Pakistan: 1,198

-------------------------------------

San Francisco
TOTAL: 38,350

1 China, People's Republic: 8,821
2 Philippines: 4,978
3 Mexico: 3,088
4 India: 3,051
5 El Salvador: 1,153
6 Vietnam: 1,144

-------------------------------------

Houston
TOTAL: 31,557

1 Mexico: 8,486
2 El Salvador: 2,698
3 Philippines: 1,790
4 Vietnam: 1,726
5 India: 1,651
6 China, People's Republic: 1,442
7 Pakistan: 1,174
8 Nigeria: 1,164

-------------------------------------

Boston
TOTAL: 28,473

1 China, People's Republic: 2,526
2 Dominican Republic: 2,466
3 Brazil: 2,276
4 Haiti: 1,701
5 India: 1,288
6 Cape Verde: 1,156

-------------------------------------

Dallas
TOTAL: 26,654

1 Mexico: 7,987
2 India: 1,618
3 Vietnam: 1,227
4 El Salvador: 1,126

-------------------------------------

Atlanta
TOTAL: 25,270

1 Mexico: 2,065
2 India: 1,534
3 Colombia: 1,156
4 Ethiopia: 1,143
5 China, People's Republic: 1,023

[edluva]

the demographics man as always. good stuff. btw, are these reflective more of port of entry or final destination?

[Urbanguy]

Hi, these figures are of final destination/place of intended residence. I think that the numbers will probably be as large or larger this year too, more than likely because of the DHS clearing their backlogs and adjustments of status.

I did find some information for Australian metros but they were from their Census 2006 and not from their immigration division so numbers weren't quite matching up when I tried to compare them.

I really want to see some for world cities like London, Paris, etc. but those are tough to find and the UK only does it for place of last residence/nationality instead of place of birth.

Anyhow, NYC's CBSA had more immigrant settlements than all of the UK (134,430) and Australia (131,593) in 2006 and it looks like LAs did too if you add Riverside (19,467). However, I must admit that last statement of mine is somewhat misleading because the UK numbers don't include migrants from the European Economic Area (EU peeps) for which thousands are coming from yearly and Switzerland. ;)

[Kilgore Trout]

including canadian cities in the list is very interesting; canadian cities generally outpace their american counterparts by a significant margin. you can really see the effect of a more liberal immigration policy. just look at how montreal took in more than twice as many immigrants as philadelphia, a metropolitan area with nearly two million more people.

of course, the numbers would likely be quite different if you considered undocumented immigration.

[ady26]

'Legal' means under local authorities regulations?

[Urbanguy]

Kilgore Trout, I also think that Canadian cities have another advantage because the choices are limited in comparison to the US. Also, the dispersal of the immigrants to cities that were not traditionally gateway cities have increased greatly.

ady26, basically those that are now known/documented with the intent of permanent residency and eventual citizenship.

[Urbanguy]

Here are some other US CBSAs/MSAs Top places of birth of immigrants numbering at least a 1,000 for fiscal year 2006.

Philadelphia
TOTAL: 20,757

1 India: 2,041
2 China, People's Republic: 1,981

Riverside
TOTAL: 19,467

1 Mexico: 9,311
2 Philippines: 1,831

San Jose
TOTAL: 18,261

1 China, People's Republic: 2,552
2 India: 2,471
3 Vietnam: 2,300
4 Philippines: 1,920
5 Mexico: 1,774

Orlando
TOTAL: 17,409

1 Colombia: 2,685
2 Haiti: 1,341
3 Venezuela: 1,066

San Diego
TOTAL: 17,273

1 Mexico: 6,267
2 Philippines: 2,497

Seattle
TOTAL: 17,095

1 Ukraine: 1,314
2 Philippines: 1,264
3 China, People's Republic: 1,227
4 India: 1,170
5 Vietnam: 1,018

Minneapolis
TOTAL: 15,831

1 Somalia: 2,244
2 Thailand: 2,048
3 Ethiopia: 1,438

Phoenix
TOTAL: 15,220

1 Mexico: 6,000

Detroit
TOTAL: 14,041

1 Iraq: 1,476
2 Albania: 1,173
3 India: 1,158

Tampa
TOTAL: 13,544

1 Cuba: 2,566
2 Colombia: 1,392

Sacramento
TOTAL: 12,767

1 Mexico: 1,575
2 Ukraine: 1,528
3 India: 1,239
4 Philippines: 1,018

Las Vegas
TOTAL: 12,696

1 Mexico: 3,062
2 Philippines: 2,081

Denver
TOTAL: 8,401

1 Mexico: 1,949

Portland
TOTAL: 8,204

1 Ukraine: 1,087

[pip]

including canadian cities in the list is very interesting; canadian cities generally outpace their american counterparts by a significant margin. you can really see the effect of a more liberal immigration policy. just look at how montreal took in more than twice as many immigrants as philadelphia, a metropolitan area with nearly two million more people.

of course, the numbers would likely be quite different if you considered undocumented immigration.

depends on how you define liberal immigration policy of Canada.

Canada has a system that favors highly skilled immigrants, with a point system for education and work experience. The more points the better to get in. In other words, the foreigners that need the least amount of help. Immigrants to Canada have a degree at twice the rate of Canadians.

[dimondpark]

My question is do either: #2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA 748,484
or #12 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 91,725 include the Orange County cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana because I don't see either of the cities on the list?

Orange County is part of LA.

The reason why you dont see a reference to the OC in the LA Metro's name is because the official policy is to use the 3 largest cities by population.

Of course, Northern VA isnt a city, but DC bias allows for those exceptions because they think nowhere else is the same way. This is also why DC gets top billing over Baltimore but SF doesnt get top billing over San Jose.

[rockyi]

Quad Cities
Population #115
International migration #158

[Kilgore Trout]

Canada has a system that favors highly skilled immigrants, with a point system for education and work experience. The more points the better to get in. In other words, the foreigners that need the least amount of help. Immigrants to Canada have a degree at twice the rate of Canadians.

"Liberal" simply meaning that Canada accepts more immigrants, per capita, than the United States.

You're right that the points system is designed to favour educated professional immigrants over those with no education. It works well in theory but less so in practice, simply because not enough is done to ensure that migrants are actually able to find a job in their field when they come here.

But a significant number of immigrants (about one third) are admitted under the family sponsorship and refugee systems, and they're subjected to a security check and nothing else.