There is a lot of emphasis placed on the Hispanic immigrants in the United States. Sometimes, the emphasis is so strong that citizens forget about the other ethnicities that are pouring into America every year. According to a survey by the Pew Institute, Hispanics are no longer the largest ethnic group in America. Instead, Asian Americans now hold that title. There are more than 18 million Asian Americans in the U.S. at this time. Many of them migrate from overseas to look for work. Experts report that many of these immigrants already have high school or college education, so they are able to fit in with the modern economy without much struggle.
Many Asian countries require that their students learn English as a second language, so they are adequately equipped to adjust to life in the U.S. People who are of Asian descent tend to be motivated and well-educated. They normally value family above everything else. Most of the Asian men and women who travel to America are foreign born but are now naturalized citizens. In fact, about 90 percent of all Asian American immigrants are documented. The Pew Research Center says that there has been a noticeable rise of Asian-Americans and that the growing group makes up about 6 percent of the U.S. population.
A political science professor at the University of California-Riverside told TIME magazine that the U.S. authorities often only debate on the illegal aspect of immigration. However, the many Asians that are pouring into the country prove that the immigration policies in the U.S. are much more diverse. She suggests that political figures may also want to look at the many high-skilled workers that are coming into the country for job opportunities. This positive side of immigration is often forgotten in the effort to deport illegal immigrants. Census data shows that about 430,000 immigrants, which is 36 percent of the immigrant population in the U.S., came from the Far East.
In contrast, only 370,000 immigrants, or 31 percent of all immigrants in 2010 were from Mexico. The analysis says that the tipping point for Asian Americans occurred in 2009. Before then, Hispanics were the largest population of immigrants in the U.S. Recently, immigrants from Mexico have avoided heading into the country. They have instead been heading back to their homeland to avoid court disputes and deportations, partially due to the escalating enforcements in states like Alabama and Arizona.
Most of the Asian men and women that are coming to America arrive from China, India, and South Korea. This is in part because of a 1990 U.S. immigration policy which allows foreigners who are willing to invest at least half a million dollars into U.S. businesses to be placed on a fast-track for naturalization. Also, workers with bachelor’s degrees that specialize in high-tech fields or other specialized areas of work are subject to the fast-track immigration privileges. A lot of the immigrants from Asia come to the U.S. to study and attend college. In fact, 60 percent of all foreign exchange students in the U.S. are from an Asian country. The smart and dedicated workers often are able to live and work in the U.S. after they graduate, and never head back to their country of origin.
They also may go on for more schooling. 45 percent of all men and women who earned engineering degrees in 2010 were Asian, and 38 percent of all math and computer science doctorate degrees were awarded to Asian men and women. In addition to all of this, studies show that the share of high-qualified immigrants with a bachelor’s degree is at 30 percent. This supersedes the amount of immigrants that do not have a high-school diploma, which rests at 28 percent. If you are struggling through an immigration trial, you need to contact an immigration attorney to help you. With the right representation, you may be able to avoid fines, jail time, or deportation because of a lack of documents.