Asian immigrants to US giving birth at higher rates

PHOENIX: Trish La Chica migrated from the Philippines to the United States six years ago in search of the American experience and a graduate degree.

La Chica got her master’s in public administration and is now the policy director at a non-profit health organisation in Hawaii. Two weeks ago, she gave birth to a boy, joining the ranks of the rising number of Asian women who give birth to children in the United States.

Asian immigrant women are increasingly accounting for a larger share of foreign mothers who give birth to children in the US, signalling a changing landscape of immigrants in America as Asians continue to outpace Latinos in growth.

The Pew Research Center released new data on Wednesday showing that Asian immigrants account for 22% of US births by foreign women, up from 16% in 2010.

La Chica, who is 30, said she came to the United States, first San Francisco and later Hawaii, to experience living here. Her mother lives in California and helped her get permanent legal residency; La Chica is now an American citizen.

“I’m planning on living and working here. We now own a house,” La Chica said.

Meanwhile, fewer Latin American immigrants are having babies in the US. The study found the share of births from foreign-born mothers from Latin America dropped from 64% of foreign mothers in 2008 to 54% in 2014. About 7% of all births in the US are from immigrants lacking legal status.

The report also found that immigrants are the driving force behind births in the US.

The number of American women who gave birth in 2014 has dropped 11% since 1970, while immigrant women have tripled the number of births they gave.

The report comes amid a heated presidential election in which Donald Trump has garnered support – and drawn ire – by claiming he will build a wall at the US-Mexico border and by expressing largely anti-immigrant sentiment.