2020 US Census: Asian Indians now the largest Asian-alone group in US

Ongoing immigration from Asian countries, which outpaces immigration from Latin America, is continuing to change the United States in so many ways -- culturally, sociologically, economically and racially -- and reshaping the popular image of what an American looks like.

One of the surprising findings of the US Census is that the Asian Indian alone population has surpassed all other Asian groups. 

It makes sense because immigration from India is a relatively recent phenomenon compared to the older Asian communities which experienced surges in the late 20th century. As a largely first-generation immigrant community, Asian Indians have had less time to integrate, or intermarry, into the wider American population.

The finding underlines the complex diversity within the Asian American communities  beyond the most popular East Asian image that most non-Asians have of Asians and the limitation and danger of lumping all the Asian ethnicities and nationalities under one group.

The Census released a report issued today (Sept. 21) highlights some of the bureau's findings based on the 2020 US Census. The press release follows:

The Asian Indian alone population became the nation’s largest Asian alone population group in 2020, growing by over 50% to 4,397,737 between 2010 and 2020.

The nation’s most populous Asian alone or in any combination group in 2020 was the Chinese, except Taiwanese population with 5.2 million, an increase of 37.2% since 2010.

2020 Census demographic characteristics on 41 detailed Asian groups released today show that the Nepalese population increased over 250% and was the fastest growing Asian alone and Asian alone or in any combination group among those with populations of 50,000 or more in 2010 (Table 1).

The Nepalese alone population increased 295.5% from 51,907 in 2010 to 205,297 in 2020. The Nepalese alone or in any combination population grew from 59,490 to 219,503, a 269.0% increase over the decade.

        FYI: For the complete US Census report on race and ethnicities, click here.

In this article, we present data from the race question on detailed race alone and race alone or in any combination populations.

The race alone population includes respondents who reported one response, such as Filipino. The race alone or in any combination population includes respondents who reported one response, such as Filipino, and it also includes respondents who reported more than one, such as Filipino and Asian Indian or Filipino and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. The race alone or in any combination population represents the maximum number of people who identified as that detailed group.

As our country becomes much more diverse and multiracial, this information is important to frame the discussion of racial and ethnic composition and help us understand our country’s changing demographics.

Largest Asian Alone Groups in 2020

The Asian Indian alone population increased 54.7% to 4,397,737 between 2010 and 2020 to become the most populous Asian alone group in the nation.

The next largest Asian alone groups and their population change from 2010 to 2020:

• Chinese, except Taiwanese alone, 4,128,718 (up 31.6%).
• Filipino alone, 3,076,108 (up 20.4%).
• Vietnamese alone, 1,951,746 (up 26.0%).
• Korean alone, 1,508,575 (up 6.0%).
• Japanese alone, 741,544 (down 3.2%)

The Asian Indian alone or in any combination population increased 49.8% to 4,768,846 and was the second largest group in 2020.

The next four largest Asian alone or in any combination groups and their population growth from 2010 to 2020:

• Filipino alone or in any combination, 4,436,992 (up 29.9%).
• Vietnamese alone or in any combination, 2,293,392 (up 32.0%).
• Korean alone or in any combination, 1,989,519 (up 16.6%).
• Japanese alone or in any combination, 1,586,652 (up 20.6%).

To learn more about the 2020 population size of all detailed Asian alone and Asian alone or in any combination groups for the nation, states, and counties, including less populous groups such as Laotian, Sikh, Hmong, Bhutanese, and more, explore the Detailed Races and Ethnicities in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020 Census data visualization.

States With Highest Shares of Largest Asian Groups

Of the six largest detailed Asian alone or in any combination groups, the largest share of each group (more than 18%) lived in California in 2020.

New York had the second largest proportions of the Chinese, except Taiwanese (15.9%) and Korean (8.1%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Texas was the state with the second largest proportions of Asian Indian (10.6%) and Vietnamese (14.2%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Hawaii had the second largest proportions of the Filipino (8.6%) and Japanese (19.7%) alone or in any combination populations in 2020.

Washington became an increasingly popular place of residence and is now in the top five home states for all but the Asian Indian alone or in any combination population. That’s a change from 2010 [PDF 2.6 MB] when Washington was in the top five only for the Filipino, Japanese and Vietnamese alone or in any combination populations.

Washington has now surpassed New Jersey to become the state with the fifth largest proportion of the Chinese, except Taiwanese alone or in any combination population and has surpassed Virginia as the state with the fifth largest proportion of the Korean alone or in any combination population.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

Trump wants the Census to not count undocumented

Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday barring the counting of undocumented immigrants in the 2020 Census that is currently underway.

A White House statement says, "Giving congressional representation and political influence to illegal aliens — people who have blatantly disregarded our laws — would be a perversion of our democratic principles."

It goes on to state that "allowing illegal aliens to be counted for the purpose of apportionment could also create perverse incentives — such as potentially rewarding states that encourage violations of Federal immigration law — that would undermine our system of government."

Dale Ho, an attorney with the ACLU told CBS that Trump has lost on the census before and predicted he will lose again.

“The Constitution requires that everyone in the U.S. be counted in the census. President Trump can’t pick and choose. He tried to add a citizenship question to the census and lost in the Supreme Court,” Ho said. “His latest attempt to weaponize the census for an attack on immigrant communities will be found unconstitutional. We’ll see him in court, and win, again.”

Asian Americans Advancing Justice called Trump's latest attack against immigrants "unbelievable and unconstitutional."

"This is the latest in a series of attempts to politicize the census and use it as a weapon in his anti-immigrant agenda. It is a move straight out of the white supremacists’ playbook that has every discriminatory practice to restrict the rights of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian American people,” the statement continued.

Since the first US census in 1790, both US citizens and noncitizens — regardless of immigration status — have been included in the country's official population counts.

The fifth sentence of the Constitution specifies that "persons" residing in the states should be counted every 10 years to determine each state's share of seats in the House of Representatives. The 14th Amendment, which ended the counting of an enslaved person as "three fifths" of a free person, goes further to require the counting of the "whole number of persons in each state."

“There is no end to this President’s attempts to violate the U.S. Constitution. The constitutional mandate, as upheld by the US Supreme Court, is clear. The US Census must count all persons in this country," said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Advancing Justice. "We cannot allow the Trump administration to weaponize the census for political gain. Without the full census data, we all will be underrepresented and under-resourced for the next ten years.”

This is not the first time the Trump administration tried to influence the Census. Last year, under the White House wanted the Census delayed because it wanted to include a question regarding a person's immigration status. The Census Bureau's own study warned  that asking that question would result in people not filling out the questionnaire. States, fearing an undercount, sued the government and the Supreme Court ruled against the question.

“It’s just plain unconstitutional to exclude anyone from the Census. These renewed efforts by the administration to deter Census completion will be met with strong resistance. We know that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are already the least likely to complete their census questionnaires, and OCA will double down our efforts to get the word out for a fair and complete count of all community members across the country," said Rita Pin Ahrens, Executive Director of OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates.

2020 Census will help Sikhs identify their place in US society

2020 will be a landmark year for Sikhs and the Census. For the first time, Sikh Americans will be able to identify themselves as Sikhs in the 2020 Census questionnaire.

"I'm so grateful to the United States that has given us a warm welcome to be part of their society, part of their culture, but we are misidentified as somebody else," said Vikas Singh, chairman of Guru Gobind Singh Sikh Center in Plainview, New York. "Right now, [when] somebody looks at me, 95% of the time people think I'm a Muslim because I wear a turban."

Some Sikhs have faced hate crimes as a result, he added, particularly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"Sikh" will be included as a distinct detailed population group within the "Asian" racial category, and not classified as "Asian Indian" as it was in the 2010 Census when it was viewed solely as a religious preference.

According to the Census Bureau, anybody who writes "Punjabi" will be aggregated as part of the "Asian Indian" tabulation category. Both "Sikh" and "Punjabi" will ultimately be included in the "Asian" count.

Before 2020, the representation of Sikhs in America has not been correctly represented through census information gathering. Without this true record of Sikhs, the community will be underserved, underrepresented and be counted OUT of the $675 billion of annual federal funding that can be earmarked for Sikh communities. This funding could assist with including, civil infrastructure, schools, educational programs, and any other important public needs in the growing Sikh population.

After extensive research and demand over the past decade; the Census Bureau has made considerable updates to the race and ethnicity code list. For the first time in United States history the US Census will include “Sikh” as a population group within the Asian racial category. With this opportunity to be heard, Sikhs living in the United States now have an opportunity to advocate for their own communities by simply being counted.

The census is prohibited by law from soliciting information on a person's religion. Sikhs, however, fall into a category similar to the Amish, The ethno-religious category is where a person's religion is intertwined to become more of a cultural identity.

Satjeet Kaur, executive director of the Manhattan-based Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group, said in an email: "For any community, the option to be able to self-identify is critical — and that applies to Sikhs as well. Additionally, the ability to get specific about populations can create the potential for distinct community needs to be met."

“We cannot realize our nation’s promise of equal representation without being represented in the Census, which includes allocating funds for dozens of federal grant programs, including grants for minority business and industry development loans, natural disaster recovery, education, public health services, and Medicaid and supplemental nutrition programs,” said Manvinder Singh, United Sikhs legal director.

April 1 is Census Day; log-in, linkup and be counted

Today, April 1, is Census Day, officially launching the effort to count every person in the United States.

The tally mandated by the US Constitution has always been a difficult task but it is even trickier in today's environment of fear and uncertainty partially created by the conranavirus sweeping across the US and partially created by Donald Trump's racist rhetoric and policies  that gives bigots permission to openly express their racist beliefs. 

Many US residents -- especially in immigrant-dominated ethnic groups such as the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities -- suspect that their answers to the census count will be used against them, according to an Urban Institute survey released in February. 

RELATED: 

• Pacific Islanders want to stop being invisible
• Campaign directed at AAPI communities
• AAPI communities among the hardest to count
• A question of identity for Filipino Americans

The survey of 7,694 people conducted in December found that around one-third of adults are concerned that their answers to census questions will be shared with other agencies or used against them in some way.

“We’re conducting this census in a very challenging climate where there’s a great deal of mistrust in how answers are going to be used,” said Michael Karpman, a research associate at the Washington, D.C.-based institute.

Historically, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities have been undercounted, resulting in missed federal funding for the states and counties in which they reside impacting their communities with the loss of programs that benefit schools, hospitals, local transportation, public works and more. 

“We want to remind everyone that participating in the Census is required by the government. We understand the concern on everyone’s mind to remain healthy and for that reason, it’s best to respond online, over the phone or by mail as soon as invitations are received,” said June Lim, demographic research project director for Advancing Justice-LA.

“Simply follow the instructions in your preferred language to answer the nine questions. Amongst other languages, you are able to complete the Census online or by phone in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese," Lim advised. "The Census Bureau has printed visual language guides available in 59 language options and video guides to completing the Census online in 63 languages.”

The Urban Instittute survey found that more than two-thirds of respondents erroneously thought there will be a question about citizenship, despite a June Supreme Court ruling striking down that question. The census doesn't ask the immigration status of the respondents. Almost half of people in families including immigrants think their answers will be used to find people living in the country illegally, despite federal laws preventing such use.

The report also learned that despite the suspicion of the census, 69% of immigrants would take part in the dicennial headcount. That still leaves 31% would not likely respond to the questions asked by the Census and remain uncounted.

The Urban Institute survey correspond with an earlier survey done by the US Census Bureau that found among ethnic groups, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were the most concerned about the possible misuse of the data collected by the census.

Community outreach efforts began in 2019 and will continue leading up to today, Census Day through August 14, 2020, when the count will be complete. The census was originally scheduled to be completed in July, but due to the coronavirus pandemic has been extended to end in August.

“We do want people to know that all responses that are given, no matter who you are, are protected by law. We cannot share information with any agency, not with immigration, not with law enforcement.," said Filipina American Ivy Daulo, the partnership specialist of the Census Bureau,. "We cannot share this information with landlords. This does not affect any benefits that a family may be receiving. We want to emphasize that again, all information that is given to the Census Bureau is protected by law.”

An in-language public service announcement available in approximately 20 Asian and Pacific Islander languages (including English) is set to debut in April along with digital flyers, posters, and user-generated content amplified through social media networks of local small businesses, faith-based organizations, community centers, and more.

“When you visit 2020census.gov you can type in the language like Tagalog or Ilocano on the top right. And you can find all the different types of language support that we offer. But we do have Tagalog support on the form, and also our internet option, as well as our phone option. They have live representatives that can also speak Tagalog.”

The Census Bureau also added material for Ilocano speakers, another dialect of the Philippines, which has eight major dialects but 170 in total.
For more information on the importance of Census 2020 outreach to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities and other key facts and statistics, visit Count Us in 2020 – a Census resource hub hosted by the Asian American Advancing Justice affiliation, a collaboration of five leading organizations advocating for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and other underserved communities to promote a fair and equitable society for all, together with Empowering Pacific Islander Communities, and their collective partners.

AAPI communities will be among the hardest to count for US Census

The US Census recognizes that the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities will be hard to count because of language difficulties and the large number of first-generation immigrants, estimated to be at least two-thirds of the over 22 million AAPI in the US.

The Census is being conducted this Spring and Summer as mandated by the US Constitution that a headcount in the country take place every ten years. People will be receiving notices starting today throught to April 1 in the mail to respond to the tally online. Those with no online access will be visited by a Census worker beginning in April.

Because of immigration, the AAPI population is the fastest growing demographic in the US. The Census Bureau’s research has also shown that Asian Americans are the racial group least familiar with the Census, and the ones most reluctant to participate.

In some countries from Asia, the concept of a Census is foreign. Immigrants from other countries might have a distrust in big government.

Suspicion of government misuse of information gathered by the Census arose in last week's briefing aimed at the smaller communities of Asian immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area.

One Bhutanese American, Robin Gurung of Asian Refugees United told how the Nepalese government used census information in the late 1980s was used to deport people of Bhutanese origin. “So in the United States, there’s still a lot of worry and questions about the census – like what are the benefits, and what do we need to be careful about?”

“When they hear the word ‘census,’ it’s like a nightmare,” agreed Ganesh Subedi, of the Bhutanese Community Association of California. He claimed that the fear of government  caused a severe undercount of the Bhutanese community in the 2010 census.

Similar storues told by speakers representing Mongolian Americans, people from Myanmar and Hmong Americans. 

Even though the Hmong is the seventh largest subgroup of Asian Americans, having the nationwide count is something unfamiliar with them.

“People my age had never heard about the census before,” said Tammy Vang, a  community organizer for Hmong Innovating Politics in Fresno.

Despite the suspicions the Census has to overcome in order to count AAPI subgroups, the consensus of those at the briefing agreed with Gurung, who said, “We have to make ourselves visible. There’s nobody (else) out there who will.”

“More immigrants come to the United States from Asia than from anywhere else,” said Hong Mei Pang of Chinese for Affirmative Action, which cohosted the briefing along with Ethnic Media Services.“But the Asian American community is not monolithic, and without an accurate count, these newer waves of Asian immigrants will be invisible.”

The majority of AAPI people are first-generation immigrants. Many arrive in the US with limited English skills. AAPI Data estimates that just under one-third of Asian immigrants arrived in the United States within the last 10 years, and thus have little or no prior experience with the census.

While the online census forms are offered in five Asian languages, and the Census Bureau is publishing informational guides in about two dozen Asian languages, activists say they are concerned that the bureau has slashed the number of Asian languages in which it will advertise.

NEED ASSISTANCE?

There are several ways that you can contact the U.S. Census Bureau for support.

For language support: The 2020 Census can be completed by phone in the following languages. Phone lines are open every day from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Eastern Time.

• English: 844-330-2020
• Chinese (Mandarin): 844-391-2020 
• Chinese (Cantonese): 844-398-2020
• Vietnamese: 844-461-2020 
• Korean: 844-392-2020
• Russian: 844-417-2020 
• Arabic: 844-416-2020 
• Tagalog: 844-478-2020
• Japanese: 844-460-2020

For information on services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing: Call the TDD number at 800-467-2020.

For general questions: Visit the US Census' Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

The Census Bureau is also providing non-English materials in the following non-English languages for the 2020 Census: