16 August 2006

Immigrants making ground across United States

The latest United States census figures show that the immigrant population has rised 16% in the last five years, and especially so in areas that have not previously seen significant numbers of new settlers.

California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois still have the highest numbers of immigrants, but the Census Bureau noted migration patterns expanding into the Upper Midwest, New England and the Rocky Mountain states, The New York Times reported.

Overall, immigrants make up 12.4 percent of the nation`s population, up from 11.2 percent in 2000. That amounts to an estimated 4.9 million additional immigrants for a total of 35.7 million.

From 1990 to 2000, the total population in the American Community Survey showed a 57-percent increase in the foreign-born population, to 31.1 million, from 19.8 million.

Along age lines, the survey found that the percentage of people 65 or over is shrinking, from 12.6 percent of the population in 1990 to 12.4 percent in 2000 and 12.1 percent in 2005. The newspaper said that reflects immigrants tend to be of working age or younger.