Asians remain fastest growing racial group in US

WASHINGTON: Asians, including Indian-Americans, remain the fastest growing racial group in the United States, according to new census figures for 2015 released on Thursday.

There are 21 million Asians now, growing by 3.4% over 2014. The number of Indian-Americans among them was not available for 2015 — there were 3.1 million in 2014.

Asians have been the fastest-growing race group since about 2000, and the main driving force is international migration, Sam Garrow, a Census Department demographer, told Associated Press. China has been the top sender of immigrants to the US since displacing Mexico in 2013.

California has the largest population of Asians with 6.5 million. The population of whites, the largest racial group who clocked in at 255 million, grew at the slowest rate of 0.5%.

Hispanics, the second largest group at 56.6 million, grew by 1.2%. California also has the largest concentration of Hispanics. There are an additional 11 million people of Hispanic origin who are in the US illegally and whose future in this country is the focus of a contentious political fight over immigration.

Democrats are largely in favour of legalising their status if they fulfil certain conditions. Republicans, by and large are opposed to it, and Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has vowed to construct a wall along the border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigration.

African Americans, who comprise the third largest portion of the US population at 46.3 million, grew by 1.3%. New York state has the largest population of blacks, at 3.8 million.

The white population in the US is showing the slowest growth. The census found that the white population, including those who chose white along with another race, grew only 0.5% between 2014 and 2015.

(With inputs from agencies)