US White Population Propped Up By New Immigrants, Census Finds

The number of White people in the US would have gone way down last year. But it didn't. This is because White people came to the US from many other nations. Those places include Latin America and Europe. This info is from recent Census Bureau data. 

In 2022, about 388,000 more White people lived in the US than the previous count. That's a growth rate of about 0.1%. It was mostly due to White immigration. The number of White people in the US who are not Hispanic actually fell by more than 668,000. Many more White people died than were born in the US. In 2022, about 260 million people in the US identified as White.         

Immigration continues to be a big issue in the US and Europe. Millions of people try to flee things like poverty, violence, and political fighting. They seek the stability and wealth in the US and many other Western nations. Republican leaders in Southern states with many immigrants have said Biden’s policy on the issue is bad. Former President Donald Trump said he'd build a wall to help stop immigration. But it was only partly built.              

Advocates for immigrants say new residents are needed to work jobs that many Americans do not want. These include entry-level jobs and farm work. “Immigrant and refugee communities bring talent, culture, and a set of skills that are needed in our community,” Arrey Obenson told The Hill. He is the president and CEO of an organization that helps immigrants.  

Meanwhile, the once-a-decade count of Americans in 2020 missed many people who are not citizens. A Census report released last week showed this. Those missed by Census counters were mostly people of “unknown legal status.” Experts said people missed could be up to 19.7% of non-citizens living in the US in 2020. 

Photo by Christoper Burns courtesy of Unsplash.

Reflect: A census counts every resident of a country. Why might it be important for a country to do this every year?