In a major shift in immigration patterns over the next 50 years, Asians will have surged past Hispanics to become the largest group of immigrants heading to the United States, according to estimates in a new study.
The study looks in detail at what will happen by 2065, but the actual tipping point comes in 2055.
An increase in Asian and Hispanic immigration would also drive US population growth, with foreign-born residents expected to make up 18 per cent of the country's projected 441 million people in 50 years, the Pew Research Centre said in a report yesterday. This will be a record, higher than the nearly 15 per cent during the late 19th century and early 20th century wave of immigration from Europe.
Today, immigrants make up 14 per cent of the population, an increase from 5 per cent in 1965. The actual change is expected to come in 2055, when Asians will become the largest immigrant group at 36 per cent, compared with Hispanics at 34 per cent.
White immigrants to America, 80 per cent back in 1965, will hover somewhere between 18 and 20 per cent, with black immigrants in the 8-9 per cent range.
Currently, 47 per cent of immigrants living in the US are Hispanic, but by 2065 that number will have dropped to 31 per cent. Asians currently make up 26 per cent of the immigrant population but in 50 years that percentage is expected to increase to 38 per cent. Pew researchers analysed a combination of Census Bureau information and its own data to develop its projections.