Immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has occurred in waves that demonstrate the predominance of certain sets of ethnic minorities. As immigrants tended to cluster in certain cities and states, separate waves were responsible for the establishment of ethnic enclaves in separate physical spaces. The best-known ethnic enclaves in American cities began to appear with the arrival of large numbers of Irish immigrants during the first third of the nineteenth century and continued forming throughout that century and the twentieth as successive waves of immigrants arrived in the United States. In 1998, nearly three quarters of all immigrants in the United States lived in California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey or Illinois. Housing discrimination remains a factor in the persistence of racial enclaves in American cities. However, more recent patterns of migration, such as chain migration, challenge traditional methods of enclaves establishment.