Benvolio, in recent years, immigration of Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status has declined in the last few years according to records kept by the department of Homeland Security.  Here are the actual numbers:
2005	1,122,257
2006	1,266,129
2007	1,052,415
2008	1,107,126
2009	1,130,818
2010	1,042,625
2011	1,062,040
2012	1,031,631
Historically, the numbers of immigrants have increased over the years, as shown in the records kept by the DHS, here is the full table:
Year	Number	Year	  Number	      Year	     Number	Year	Number
1820 	   8,385 	1870 	  387,203      1920 	     430,001 	1970 373,326 
1821 	   9,127 	1871 	  321,350 1921 	     805,228 	1971 370,478 
1822 	   6,911 	1872 	 404,806 	     1922 	     309,556 	1972 	384,685 
1823 	   6,354 	1873 	 459,803 	     1923 	     522,919 1973 	398,515 
1824 	   7,912 	1874 	 313,339 	     1924 	     706,896 	1974 	393,919 
1825 	 10,199 	1875 	 227,498 	     1925 	     294,314 	1975 	385,378 
1826 	 10,837 	1876 	 169,986 	     1926 	     304,488 	1976¹	499,093 
1827 	 18,875 	1877 	 141,857 	     1927 	     335,175 	1977 	458,755 
1828 	 27,382 	1878 	 138,469 	     1928 	     307,255 	1978 	589,810 
1829 	 22,520 	1879 	 177,826 	     1929 	     279,678 	1979 	394,244 
1830 	 23,322 	1880 	 457,257 	     1930 	     241,700 	1980 	524,295 
1831 	 22,633 	1881 	 669,431 	     1931 	      97,139 	1981 	595,014 
1832 	 60,482 	1882 	 788,992 	     1932 	      35,576 	1982 	533,624 
1833 	 58,640 	1883 	 603,322 	     1933 	      23,068 	1983 	550,052 
1834 	 65,365 	1884 	 518,592 	     1934 	      29,470 	1984 	541,811 
1835 	 45,374 	1885 	 395,346 	     1935 	      34,956 	1985 	568,149 
1836 	 76,242 	1886 	 334,203 	     1936 	      36,329 	1986 	600,027 
1837 	 79,340 	1887 	 490,109 	     1937 	      50,244 	1987 	599,889 
1838 	 38,914 	1888 	 546,889 	     1938 	      67,895 	1988 	641,346 
1839 	 68,069 	1889 	 444,427 	1939 	82,998 	1989 	1,090,172 
1840 	 84,066 	1890 	 455,302 	1940 	70,756 	1990 	1,535,872 
1841 	 80,289 	1891 	 560,319 	1941 	51,776 	1991 	1,826,595 
1842      104,565 	1892 	 579,663 	1942 	28,781 	1992 	973,445 
1843 	 52,496 	1893 	 439,730 	1943 	23,725 	1993 	903,916 
1844 	 78,615 	1894 	 285,631 	1944 	28,551 	1994 	803,993 
1845 	114,371 	1895 	 258,536 	1945 	38,119 	1995 	720,177 
1846 	154,416 	1896 	 343,267 	1946 	108,721 	1996	 915,560 
1847 	234,968 	1897 	 230,832 	1947 	147,292 	1997	 797,847 
1848 	226,527 	1898 	 229,299 	1948 	170,570 	1998 	 653,206 
1849 	297,024 	1899 	 311,715 	1949 	188,317 	1999	 644,787 
1850 	369,980 	1900 	 448,572 	1950 	249,187 	2000	 841,002 
1851 	379,466 	1901 	 487,918 	1951 	205,717 	2001	 1,058,902 
1852 	371,603 	1902 	 648,743 	1952 	265,520 	2002	 1,059,356 
1853 	368,645 	1903 	 857,046 	1953 	170,434 	2003	 703,542 
1854 	427,833 	1904 	 812,870 	1954 	208,177 	2004	 957,883 
1855 	200,877 	1905 	1,026,499 	1955 	237,790 	2005	1,122,257
1856 	200,436 	1906 	1,100,735 	1956 	321,625 	2006	1,266,129
1857 	251,306 	1907 	1,285,349 	1957 	326,867 	2007	1,052,415
1858 	123,126 	1908 	782,870 	1958 	253,265 	2008	1,107,126
1859 	121,282 	1909 	751,786 	1959 	260,686 	2009	1,130,818
1860 	153,640 	1910 	1,041,570 	1960 	265,398 	2010	1,042,625
1861 	  91,918 	1911 	878,587 	1961 	271,344 	2011	1,062,040
1862 	  91,985 	1912 	838,172 	1962 	283,763 	2012	1,031,631
1863 	176,282 	1913 	1,197,892 	1963 	306,260 		
1864 	193,418 	1914 	1,218,480 	1964 	292,248 		
1865 	248,120 	1915 	326,700 	1965 	296,697 		
1866 	318,568 	1916 	298,826 	1966 	323,040 		
1867 	315,722 	1917 	295,403 	1967 	361,972 		
1868 	138,840 	1918 	110,618 	1968 	454,448 		
1869 	352,768 	1919 	141,132 	1969 	358,579