• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 7, 2015

According to a new report. From the Pew Research Center, Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth… use of the term “minority” in regards to race will be obsolete as no racial or ethnic group will be a majority in the U.S., by 2055.

The white population in the U.S., at 84% 50 years ago, is now 62% and will fall below 50% in 2055. In 2065, according to Pew projections, whites will make up 46% of the population, Latinos 24% and Asians 14%. After 2060, Asians are projected to surpass Blacks, who will be 13% of the U.S. population.

Immigration changes have reshaped the U.S. demographic profile by producing differing growth rates of racial and ethnic groups. Pew projected that, by 2065, there will be 78 million immigrants. In 2015, the foreign-born population has increased to 14%, or 45 million. Asians are predicted to surpass Latinos in 2065 as the largest immigrant group. Since 2011, Asia has been the largest source region among recently arrived immigrants.

According to the report, over the next 50 years the majority of U.S. population growth is linked to new Asian immigration (35%) and new Latino immigration (25%). An additional 18% will be due to new white immigrants and their descendants, and 8% to Black immigrants and their descendants.

According to the report, without any post-1965 immigration, the nation’s racial and ethnic composition would be very different today: 75% white, 14% Black, 8% Latino and less than 1% Asian.

Since 1965, when Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, immigrants and their descendants have fueled major population. The law replaced the national origins quota system with a seven-category preference system emphasizing family reunification and skilled immigrants, which increased immigration from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Approximately 12% of projected growth can be attributed to the population already in the country in 2015 and its descendants. Immigrants will account for 88% of the population growth, or 103 million people by 2065, as the nation grows to 441 million.

Recently, immigration from Latin American and Mexico has slowed. In 2015, 47% of immigrants living in the U.S. are Latino, says the report. By 2065, that number is expected to fall to 31%, while Asians will make up 38% of the foreign-born population. However, Latinos will remain a larger share of the nation’s overall population.

In March and April Pew also conducted a bilingual online survey of adults, collecting opinions on immigrants. 45% of those surveyed said immigrants in the U.S. are making society better, and 37% say they are making it worse. 16% say they are not having much effect. Half of Americans want a reduction in immigration, and 80% want to see the immigration system changed or completely revamped.

Just under half of those who responded to the survey said Asian and European immigrants have had a mostly positive effect on society. Americans are more likely to have negative views about Latin American and Middle Eastern immigrants, according to the report.

Finally, a report published in June by Nielsen, shows that the buying power of Asian Americans expanded by $718 to $770 billion in 2014. It is expected to soar to $1 trillion by 2018.  At just 5.3% of the population, Asian American spending contends with Blacks at 13%, spending approximately $1 trillion, and Latinos at 17%, spending approximately $1.4 trillion.

For more about the study, with additional charts and graphs, please visit here.