For the very first time in more than a century, Hispanic immigration to the United States in 2011 was beaten by immigrants from Asia, with the amount of undocumented Hispanic immigrants also continuing to decline.
The new census data, which was released yesterday, confirms that there has been a clear and sustained fall in illegal immigration, which has put an end to over ten years of increases. The amount of illegal immigrants in the United States fell to around 11.1 million in 2011 from a peak of 12 million five years ago back in 2007, which comes as part of an overall waning of immigration from the Hispanic community. Hispanic immigration was topped in 2011 for the first time since 1910 by immigrants from Asia.
Illegal Hispanic immigration is not likely to reach its peak in the mid 2000s again, according to demographers, partly due to a weaker economy in the United States and to tougher enforcement, but also partly because of a graying in the population of Mexico.
The findings suggest that the Republican Party is in for an uphill battle, having last week passed legislation in the House to extend US citizenship to a small group of foreign students who have advanced degrees but the Party is massively divided on whether or not to pursue broader measures with regards to immigration reform.
The biggest surge in immigration in the history of the United States may ultimately go down as having taken place in the mid 1990s to early 2000s.