US: Hispanics accounted for half the population growth in the United States from 2004 to 2005 and almost half of America's children under the age of five belong to ethnic or racial minorities, according to new census figures.
America's Hispanic population grew by almost 1.4 million in a single year, making Hispanics by far the largest and fastest-growing minority group. One third of Americans is now a member of a minority group, a proportion that is set to rise as the non-Hispanic white population ages.
The median age of non-Hispanic whites is just over 40, 13 years older than it is for Hispanics and 10 years older than for blacks. The figures do not divide non-Hispanic whites into subgroups, so it is not clear if the number of Irish-born people rose or fell between 2004 and 2005. Immigrants' rights groups say as many as 50,000 Irish people may live illegally in the US, but other estimates put the figure as low as 5,000.
America's Asian population growth is driven mainly by immigration, but among Hispanics births added more to the population growth than immigrants did this decade.
The census figures come as the US Senate prepares to return next week to the immigration issue in an attempt to revive a stalled proposal that would allow most of America's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to remain in the US and eventually apply for citizenship. The House of Representatives has already passed a Bill that would impose tougher penalties on illegal immigrants and their employers, and offers no path to citizenship or legal residence for those in the country illegally.