US' Biggest Immigrant Group Won't Be Hispanics for Long

The face of America changed drastically in the last 50 years, and will look quite different in another half-century. Before the Immigration and Nationality Act passed in 1965, white Americans made up 84% of the population, followed by African Americans at 11%, Hispanics at 4%, and Asians at less than 1%, per a Pew Research Center report. Today, with immigration policies no longer favoring Europeans, those figures are 62%, 12%, 18%, and 6%, respectively. How will they change in another 50 years? The US population will probably include 46% whites, 24% Hispanics, 14% Asians, and 13% African Americans, Pew reports. The biggest change comes with a new largest immigrant group: Hispanics now make up 47% of immigrants, but Pew expects they'll total 31% by 2065, while Asians—including from China, Pakistan, and India—will total 38%, reports CNN.

That might seem surprising since half of all immigrants since 1965 have come from Latin America—28% from Mexico—but an "abrupt slowdown" of illegal immigration from Mexico has cut into that, the report notes, per the New York Times. Just 1.7 million immigrants from Central and South America arrived in the last five years, compared to 2.5 million from Asia, reports CNN, which notes 11.3 million immigrants are considered unauthorized. By 2065, the US population is expected to rise to 441 million, with new immigrants and their children responsible for 88% of growth, reports the Los Angeles Times. How do Americans feel? About 45% say immigrants are making the country a better place, while 37% say they're making it worse. Almost half say Asian immigrants have a positive effect on the country, while just 26% say the same of immigrants from Latin America. (More Hispanics stories.)