Asians set to be largest migrant group in US

People from continent will account for 38% of immigrants by 2055

SINGAPORE - The "model minority" is on its way to becoming the majority. Asians are projected to become the largest immigrant group in the United States by 2055, overtaking Hispanics.

In 50 years, Asians will make up 38 per cent of all immigrants in the United States, while Hispanics will be at 31 per cent, Pew Research has predicted in a new study.

More Asian than Hispanic immigrants have arrived in the US since 2010. Between 2000 and 2015, the country's Asian population grew 72 per cent, from 11.9 million to 20.4 million, the fastest growth rate for any major racial or ethnic group, the Pew study said.

By comparison, the population of the second-fastest growing group, Hispanics, increased 60 per cent during the same period.

A watershed moment for the US will come in 2044, when no racial group will be a majority.

Currently, a record 20 million Asian-Americans - out of the country's population of 323 million - trace their roots to more than 20 countries in East and Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, Pew said.

Some of the fastest-growing subgroups are Bhutanese, Nepalese and Myanmarese, with the slowest growth rates registered among Laotians and Japanese. People of Chinese origin make up the largest group, which, at 4.9 million, comprises nearly one-quarter of the Asian population.

Rising in politics

Asian-Americans are already an integral part of the US cultural and professional landscape, and are rising in politics, with several especially prominent in this administration. Taipei-born Elaine Chao, who is Transport Secretary, is the first Asian-American woman and first Chinese-American to be appointed to a Cabinet position.

Nimrata "Nikki" Haley, ambassador to the United Nations, was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, to Indian-American immigrants, while New York-born Ajit Varadaraj Pai is the first Indian-American to be appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Ironically, the Pew study comes amid ongoing attempts to curb immigration. Last week, in the context of immigration reform, US President Donald Trump tweeted: "Chain migration cannot be allowed to be part of any legislation on Immigration!""Chain migration" refers to immigrants bringing their family members after them.

"Unfortunately, there has always been an ugly side to US politics, but I think our history is one where the better nature prevails in the long run," California congressman Ro Khanna, an Indian-American and a Democrat, told The Sunday Times.

The Straits Times - ANN

(China Daily 09/18/2017 page12)