A wave of immigration from the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America is reshaping the USA's black population, new findings show, with no sign of ending soon. About one in 11 blacks in America are foreign-born. The figure is likely to rise to one in six by 2060.
The group is still fairly small compared with the numbers of Asian and Latin American immigrants who arrive each year, but it "has been a big part of the black immigrant story at least since 2000," said Mark Hugo Lopez of the Pew Research Center, which released the findings Thursday.
Using U.S. Census Bureau data, Pew found that a record 3.8 million black immigrants live in the USA, more than four times as many as in 1980. Overall, there are about 42 million immigrants in the USA.
Taken as a group, black immigrants — the vast majority of them from the Caribbean and Africa — comprise nearly 9% of the nation's black population, three times their share in 1980.
The group is likely to continue growing rapidly: According to Census projections, nearly 17% of U.S. blacks will be immigrants by 2060.
"That's a big change, particularly when you take a look at Asian and Hispanic populations in the U.S.," Lopez said. "Their foreign-born shares are actually declining." For Africans in particular, their share of foreign-born population is likely to rise.
In a few places, black immigrant populations equal or exceed the 2060 projection, including:
•15% of the black population in the Washington metro area.
•28% in the New York metro area.
•34% in Miami.
As a group, the study found, about one-fourth of black immigrants 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher, slightly lower than the overall U.S. population. They're about even with the rest of the population when it comes to advanced degrees.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/09/pew-african-immigrants/25521471/
The group is still fairly small compared with the numbers of Asian and Latin American immigrants who arrive each year, but it "has been a big part of the black immigrant story at least since 2000," said Mark Hugo Lopez of the Pew Research Center, which released the findings Thursday.
Using U.S. Census Bureau data, Pew found that a record 3.8 million black immigrants live in the USA, more than four times as many as in 1980. Overall, there are about 42 million immigrants in the USA.
Taken as a group, black immigrants — the vast majority of them from the Caribbean and Africa — comprise nearly 9% of the nation's black population, three times their share in 1980.
The group is likely to continue growing rapidly: According to Census projections, nearly 17% of U.S. blacks will be immigrants by 2060.
"That's a big change, particularly when you take a look at Asian and Hispanic populations in the U.S.," Lopez said. "Their foreign-born shares are actually declining." For Africans in particular, their share of foreign-born population is likely to rise.
In a few places, black immigrant populations equal or exceed the 2060 projection, including:
•15% of the black population in the Washington metro area.
•28% in the New York metro area.
•34% in Miami.
As a group, the study found, about one-fourth of black immigrants 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher, slightly lower than the overall U.S. population. They're about even with the rest of the population when it comes to advanced degrees.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/09/pew-african-immigrants/25521471/
