USA (By Jon Garrido, Hispanic News) August 9, 2007 In a further sign of the
United States growing diversity, nonwhites now make up a majority in almost
one third of the most populous counties in the country and in nearly one in
10 of all 3,100 counties, according to an analysis of census results to be
released today.
Nationally, the number of
minorities topped 100 million for the first time in 2006 about a third of
the population. By 2050, minorities will account for half of U.S. residents,
according to Census Bureau projections.
None of the traditional immigrant gateways,
including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, remains among the fastest-growing
Hispanic centers.
Rapidly growing
numbers of Hispanics are fanning out across the USA
settling in rural and suburban counties far from traditional immigrant
strongholds.
In 303 counties, whites are now in the
minority in nearly one in 10 U.S. counties. Eight more counties joined the
list since 2005, and 205 others are nearing the mark with more than 40%
minorities, nearly all in the South and West. And that increased diversity,
fueled by immigration and higher birth rates among Hispanics, is straining
race relations and sparking a backlash against immigrants in many
communities.
"There's some culture shock," said Mark
Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington based research
agency. "But there is a momentum building, and it is going to continue."
The increases in areas that experienced little
diversity until this decade intensify the uproar over immigration. Forty one
states have enacted 171 laws this year aimed at illegal immigrants. About 100
communities have proposed similar ordinances; 40 have been enacted.
"We're seeing new immigrant minorities coming
in to areas that haven't had very much minority populations or immigrant
populations," says William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution. "It
put immigration on the front burner politically. It scared a lot of people."
The new wave of immigration, along with its
continued dispersal to the suburbs and Sun Belt, is transforming the places
which are now being classified as multiethnic and majority minority, said Frey
adding The new melting pots are not large international gateways. Rather, many
are fast-growing suburbs themselves.
The number of Hispanics has soared since 2000
in counties such as Paulding near Atlanta, Kendall on the western edge of
Chicago, and Stafford, Prince William and Loudoun in Virginia, outside
Washington.
The Hispanic population in Pennsylvania's
Luzerne County, two hours north of Philadelphia, nearly tripled since 2000, the
fourth fastest increase among large counties. Luzerne is home to Hazleton, which
enacted a law last year that would have fined landlords who rented to illegal
immigrants and suspended licenses of companies that hire them. A federal judge
last month ruled the law unconstitutional.
Immigrants who resettled in the USA in the
2090s typically moved from California to escape that state's recession, says
Jeffrey Passel, demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center. They flocked east to
jobs in poultry and meatpacking plants. Then the housing boom happened.
"Immigrants who were coming in no longer were
going first to California," he says. "This is a very fast turnaround. It
accelerated and it's just continuing.
What causes the friction is the rapid
change much more than the absolute number."
Not all the changes in the July 1, 2006, county
estimates are caused by immigration, but they're a strong indicator of where
immigrants settle. Births and moves from other parts of the USA add to the
growth.
The high birthrate among Hispanics accounted
for more than half the growth in Hispanics this decade, according to Kenneth
Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute.
As young Hispanics settle in places where the
aging population is largely white, the generation gap widens, says Peter
Morrison, demographer at the RAND Corp. In Philadelphia County, for example, 14%
of whites are 65 and older, and 5% of Hispanics are.
From July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006, Washington
inched ahead of El Paso in the number of Hispanic residents.
In 36 counties with more than 500,000 residents
each, non-Hispanic whites are now a minority, up from 29 counties of that size
in 2000.
From 2005 to 2006 alone, eight other mostly
less-populous counties shifted to a majority of minorities, the Census Bureau
said. They were Denver, Colo.; East Baton Rouge Parish, La.; Winkler, Waller and
Wharton in Texas; Blaine, Mont.; Colfax, N.M.; and Manassas Park, Va., an
independent city that is considered the equivalent of a county.
In a new study for the Population Reference
Bureau, Mark Mather and Kelvin Pollard found that Hispanic people were
increasingly attracted to job opportunities and lower costs outside major
metropolitan areas.
Between 2000 and 2006, the total population in
small towns and rural areas increased by 3 percent, but the Hispanic population
in these counties grew from 2.6 million to 3.2 million, a 22 percent increase,
the authors of the study wrote.
So far this decade, they added, there are also
new areas of growth, including exurban counties in the Atlanta, Chicago, New
York, and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas, plus parts of Texas, central
Florida, and a few other states.
Since 2000, the Hispanic population more than
doubled in metropolitan Winchester, Va.; Scranton, Pa.; Cape Coral, Fla.; and
Hagerstown, Md.. The largest numerical increases were in metropolitan Los
Angeles (576,630); Riverside, Calif., (545,152); Dallas (472,222); Houston
(470,157); and New York (418,720).
Metropolitan Phoenix; Atlanta; Dallas; Houston;
Las Vegas; Austin, Tex.; Charlotte; Portland, Ore.; and Raleigh, N.C., each
recorded gains in non-Hispanic whites of more than 100,000 since 2000. The
largest losses were registered by metropolitan New York (248,422), Los Angeles
(203,109), San Francisco (127,151) and New Orleans (111,162).
Harris County, Tex., home to Houston, gained
121,400 minority residents from 2005 to 2006, the most of any county.
Sixty-three percent of its residents were members of minorities.
Maricopa County, Ariz., home to Phoenix,
recorded the biggest numerical increase in Hispanic residents (71,000) and also
the biggest increase in non-Hispanic whites (35,500).
Many of the nation's biggest counties have long
had large minority populations. But that diversity is now spreading to the
suburbs and beyond, causing resentment in some areas.
Many Hispanics say they see it in the debate over
illegal immigration.
In northern Virginia, Teresita Jacinto said she feels less
welcome today than when she first arrived 30 years ago, when
she was one of few Hispanics in the area."Not only are we feeling
less welcome, we are feeling threatened," said Jacinto, a
teacher in Woodbridge, Va., about 20 miles southwest of
Washington.
"I don't think
Hispanics are seeking to make white
people a minority," Jacinto said. "It's just a reality."
The AP, NYTimes, and Washington Post
contributed to this article.
