USA Immigration News

Asian Immigrants to U.S. Surpassed Hispanics

An expansive study by the Pew Research Center shows that Asians has overtaken Hispanics in migrating to the U.S.

The research shows a decrease in illegal immigration and a higher demand for high-skilled workers. Asian-Americans account for approximately 5 percent of the U.S. population. The spike in Asian immigrants is explained by the increase in U.S. high skilled worker visas and U.S. investor visas as the U.S. economy now becomes more driven by technology.

"Too often the policy debates on immigration fixate on just one part - illegal immigration," said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a political science professor at the University of California-Riverside and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "U.S. immigration is more diverse and broader than that, with policy that needs to focus also on high-skilled workers". They also stressed the role of Asian immigrants when net migration from Mexico is declining.

According to the latest figures, 430,000 Asians arrived in the U.S. in 2010, making up 36 percent of all new immigrants. The number of Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. in 2010 reached 370,000, equaling 31 percent.

Asian immigrants are mostly from India, China and South Korea which follows immigration plans going back to the 1990s favouring wealthy and educated workers. The number of international students from Asia also contributes to the immigration influx. Asian students, both foreign born and U.S. born, accounted for 45 percent of all engineering Ph.D.s in 2010, as well as 38 percent of doctorates in math and computer sciences and 33 percent of doctorates in the physical sciences.

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