Seattle among best cities for immigrants

Seattle is among the five best large metros for immigrants arriving in the U.S., according to a Bush Institute report released last week.

Driving the news: The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area's No. 4 position in immigrant well-being sets it apart from other top gateway cities, such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami, which placed in the bottom quarter of the list.

• Topping the list was San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California.

Why it matters: Thriving immigrants are a sign of a thriving city, the report says. About 30% of Washington's population in 2021 — nearly 2.3 million — were immigrants themselves or had at least one parent that was an immigrant, according to The Seattle Times.

Zoom in: Seattle and Washington state have a long history of immigrant-friendly policies.

• Seattle budgeted $3.8 million in 2021 to legal defense, employment assistance and citizenship programs.
• King County last year approved $16 million in a first-in-the-nation program to help immigrants apply for documentation and citizenship. Applications are currently being processed now, according to King County communications director Chase Gallagher.
• Washington state set aside $340 million for undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for unemployment assistance or federal stimulus checks during the COVID pandemic. Advocates claimed at the time it was the second-largest fund for undocumented workers in the country.

Go deeper: Where immigrants are moving and thriving