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.

Thin-skinned Senators might doom Neera Tanden's nomination

SCREEN CAPTURE / CNN

Neera Tanden's nomination is getting resistance in the Senate.

OPINION

The nomination of Neera Tanden appears to be in limbo, if not dead in the water. Two Senate committees which were supposed to vote on the Office of Management and Budget nominee Wednesday, had their votes postponed, presumably for the White House to garner more support for the embattled Indian American nominee.

Tanden's nomination is in trouble because of some combative tweets she sent out criticizing several senators on both sides of the aisle.

Who would have guessed that the senators had such thin skin, considering we've just gone through four years of one of the most offensive tweeters of all time. Donald Trump weaponized Twitter to viciously attack those who disagreed with him.

Some of the senators who were so offended by Tanden's tweets are the same senators who -- when asked about Trump's attacks -- said they hadn't seen the tweets or that they don't pay attention to social media.

At least three moderate Republicans the Democrats hoped would vote for Tanden said they would vote against her nomination.

Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania — have announced that they will vote against her nomination, citing her "mean tweets." They will be joined by Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

“I have carefully reviewed Neera Tanden’s public statements and tweets that were personally directed towards my colleagues on both sides of the aisle from Senator (Bernie) Sanders to Senator (Mitch) McConnell and others,” Manchin said.

During a confirmation hearing in eaerly February, Sanders had grilled Tanden on her “vicious attacks”, to which she apologised and expressed regret over the statements she made on social media.

At another confirmation hearing, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, criticized Tanden on calling fellow Senator Susan Collins “the worst”, Republican Senator Tom Cotton a fraud, McConnell the “Moscow Mitch” and “Voldemort”, and for saying that vampires have more heart than Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

Tanden's tweets that offended the tender ears of the politicians don't even light a match when compared to the terrible things Trump said about his various critics or Republicans who dared question his policies.

When Romney voted to impeach Trump, Trump's resonse was, Utah “is the home of our worst senator ... Romney couldn’t be elected dogcatcher in Utah right now.”

"We can disagree with her tweets, but in the past, Trump nominees that they've confirmed and supported had much more serious issues and conflicts than just something that was written on Twitter,” Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) said in an interview after tweeting in frustration about Manchin’s reported hesitancy around some nominations. “This is not just about any one nominee like Neera, or whoever else — it's just about this pattern that is happening and increasingly hard to ignore.”

So far, the White House has stood fast in supporting Tanden. 

"We're continuing to fight for her confirmation," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday afternoon. On Wednesday night, White House chief of staff Ron Klain told CNN, "we're fighting our guts out" to confirm Tanden.

Asian Americans, already stung by not having an AAPI named as a Cabinet Secretary, rallied to Tanden's support,

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus sent a letter  to the 100 senators. In the letter they cited her qualifications and the fact that AAPI need representation in the Cabinet.

“Ms. Tanden’s substantial policy, legislative, and executive branch experience makes her exceptionally qualified to lead the OMB and ensure that our nation’s budgets and programs reflect our shared values of hard work, fairness, and respect. As a daughter of a single mother who relied on public housing and food stamps to survive, Ms. Tanden understands firsthand the struggles that many Americans face every day and the pivotal role that government can play in leveling the playing field and creating an economy that works for working families,” wrote the Members. 

“As a former senior advisor during the Clinton and Obama administrations, a former legislative director in the U.S. Senate, and in her role as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress, Ms. Tanden is widely recognized as an expert in domestic, economic, and foreign policy. Not only is she a leading architect of bold policies designed to support working families, foster broad-based economic growth, and curb rampant inequality, but she is also a pragmatic policy maker who understands the importance of working across the aisle to find common ground on initiatives that will move our nation forward.”

Social media activity by AAPI groups ramped up using hashtags, such as #IStandWithNeera. A #YESNeera campaign that used the words “Yes to Progress Yes to Women Yes to AAPIs” reached more than 77.2 million people, according to the AAPI Victory Fund.

“She is being held to a much higher standard, even though nobody disputes her background and qualifications to be OMB director,” said Shekar Narasimhan, AAPI Victory Fund chair to Politico. “It’s becoming apparent this higher standard applies primarily to nominees of color, and it particularly hurts with historic nominations like Neera’s.”