14 celebrities you didn't realize were immigrants

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Entertainers from all over the world flock to the United States since its entertainment industries — whether for movies, television, music, books, or theater — are some of the biggest in the world.

In addition to a surprising number of celebrities who are refugees from other countries, there are also quite a few immigrants from around the world. While some strike out and go back home, others achieve huge success and end up immigrating permanently, becoming US citizens. 

Here are 14 celebrities you probably didn't realize were immigrants to the US.

Michael J. Fox uses his fame to campaign for government-funded medical research in the US.

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Marty McFly hails from Canada, and got American citizenship in 1999. Fox has Parkinson's disease, and frequently advocates for medical research into stem cells, which has produced breakthroughs in understanding and treating the disease.

"I'm real proud of the fact that if you say 'Russia' to the average American he thinks 'Cold War' and if you say 'Russia' to a Canadian he thinks 'hockey,'" Fox said in 1987.

When Neil Young came to the United States, he was an undocumented immigrant without a work visa.

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Neil Young is also Canadian, having moved to the United States in 1966, right around the time he started making folk-style records with "Buffalo Springfield."

According to Rolling Stone, Young didn't have proper papers at the time and lived "in perpetual fear of getting pulled over for a traffic violation."

In an interview for his biography "Shakey," Young described the quintessential Canadian characteristic of constant ambivalence.

"There's something in Canada that teaches you that you always gotta look at both sides," Young said. "Even the things that I believe in the most, I doubt."

Salma Hayek spent some time in the US undocumented before she got her green card.

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The actress was born in Mexico and started her career making telenovas there. In 1991, she moved to Los Angeles to study acting and straddled the Hollywood and Mexican acting worlds. She overstayed her US visa and was undocumented for awhile before getting her green card. She acquired US citizenship in 2013.

Hayek remains an active part of her Mexican community, she told E!, making an effort to represent the country in her work and life.

"I have taught my child to embrace her Mexican heritage, to love my first language, Spanish, to learn about Mexican history, music, folk art, food, and even the Mexican candy I grew up with," she said. "I have tried my whole life to represent my Mexican roots with honor and pride."

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