the number of migrants who won lawful permanent residence in the United States dropped sharply in 2020, impacted by a pandemic that locked down both those who would enter the country and slowed the work of American officials who process their requests.

Just over 700,000 new people won lawful residence in the last fiscal year, according to an annual report from the Department of Homeland Security, down from more than a million people who became lawful residents in each of the previous six years.

The DHS report found about one in seven of those who gained permanent legal residence, 100,325 people, came from Mexico, a higher share than any other nation.

About 46,000 people moved in from India, and another 41,000 moved from China, according to the DHS data. More people moved from Asian countries — 272,000 — than from North American countries — 222,000 — the data show.

Along with Mexico, North American nations like the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Cuba and Jamaica are among the largest donors of new American residents.

The growing number of Asian immigrants — Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea, Afghanistan and Pakistan all contributed tens of thousands of new Americans last year — is part of a long-term trend that began more than half a century ago, when the United States revised immigration policies to end racist exclusions of people from those nations.