Immigrant families will drive 88 percent of future population growth

Looking ahead, new Pew Research Center USA population projections show that if current demographic trends continue, future immigrants and their descendants will be an even bigger source of population growth.

As the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act marks its 50-year anniversary this weekend, Pew Research reports that the already large immigrant share of us population growth is slated to snowball over the next half century.

In a handful of states, the majority of residents born outside the USA came from other countries: from Ethiopia in South Dakota, China in Pennsylvania, and Jamaica in Connecticut.

By 2055, no racial or ethnic group will make up a majority of the US population, with non-Hispanic whites dropping below 50 percent of the overall population and Hispanic and Asian populations growing significantly.

The Asian population in the US will generally be made up of foreign-born immigrants, whereas the Hispanic population will continue to grow through USA births.

Crime: Among Republicans, 71% say immigrants in the US are making crime worse, compared with just 34% of Democrats, according to the newly released survey. And older immigrants, many of whom are retirees or will soon be, don’t represent a long-term solution to Maine’s well-documented work force shortage. Come 2065, however, Pew projects that figure will hit a new high of almost 18 percent.

A higher percentage of immigrants get a few kind of government welfare compared with the native-born population, according to a Center for Immigration Studies report.

Currently, 47 percent of immigrants living in the United States are Hispanic, but by 2065 that number will have dropped to 31 percent.

The Pew Research Center published the report to coincide with the 50th anniversary this week of the immigration act, which put an end to a system that was based on country quotas that overwhelmingly favored immigrants from Northern Europe. A person would have to be blind to believe America isn’t open to immigrants. But in 2008, journalist Edwin Okong’o wrote that while “African immigrants have traditionally steered clear of politics in this country”, Obama’s candidacy caused many to enter the political fray “with increasing zeal and passion”. Another 30 percent are here legally, and whether or not Congress ever passes immigration reform, many of them will be naturalized. About 45 percent of Americans agree that immigrants make the USA a better country. The US population’s median age in 1965 was 28 years, rising to 38 years in 2015 and a projected 42 years in 2065. The bilingual online survey of 3,147 adults was conducted from March 10 to April 6 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percent.