The Migration Information Source (MPI)’s journal has published “Spotlight Asian Immigrants in the United States.”
In the Spotlight, MPI’s Jeanne Batalova examines the size, distribution, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics of immigrants from Eastern Asia, South Central Asia, South Eastern Asia, and Western Asia. From the most recent government data available, it was found that:
— Immigrants from Asia number more than 10.6 million, accounting for 27.7 percent of all foreign-born currently residing in the United States. The largest groups of Asian immigrants are from the Philippines, India, China (including Hong Kong), Vietnam, and Korea.
— While California, New York, and Texas together are home to nearly half of all Asian immigrants in the United States, close to half or more than half of the immigrant populations in Hawaii (78.2 percent), Alaska (51.6 percent), West Virginia (51.6 percent), Michigan (45.5), and Virginia (41.4) are from Asia.
— Immigrants from Asia are more likely than the overall foreign-born population to be proficient in English and be naturalized U.S. citizens. They are more likely than both the foreign-born and the native-born to have a bachelor’s degree.
— Asian immigrants account for about 58 percent of immigrant physicians and surgeons and for roughly 60 percent of immigrant registered nurses practicing in the United States.
— South Eastern Asians make up the largest proportion of the Asian-born population, followed by those from Eastern, South Central, and Western Asia.
MPI is a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. The organization studies immigration issues, trends, and policies in the United States and around the world. ♦
For more information or to view the spotlight, visit www.migrationpolicy.org.