Latin America: Week in Review, United States
Immigration Drove Population Growth Over Last Decade In U.S., Says Census Bureau
December 7, 2010 By Staff
A man sells flags at an immigration rally in Los Angeles.
Today in Latin America
Top Story — The United States Census Bureau released estimates on Monday that showed that the U.S. population grew to somewhere between 306 million and 313 million over the last decade.
The estimates are separate from the official census results, which will be released in a few weeks, and are based on a review of birth and death records as well as calculations of new immigrants as of April 1, 2010.
“For the first time, we are providing a series of demographic analysis estimates to more clearly demonstrate the uncertainty in these figures,” said Census director Robert Groves, according to Business Week.
The rapid immigration shifts since 2000 has made pinpointing the exact tally more difficult. Hispanics made up 17 percent of the population under age 20 in 2000, but now they represent between 22 and 25 percent of that age group.
The non-Hispanic youth population dropped between 1.25 million and 2.9 million; without Hispanics, the total number of young people in the United States would have declined between 2000 and 2010.
Estimates, such as those released Monday, are traditionally used to measure how accurate the official census is. This is the first time the Census Bureau has put out five wide-ranging estimates, which is seen as a reflection of the stirring in immigration patterns of the last decade caused by the recession and crackdowns on undocumented workers.
“The U.S. population is becoming more diverse from youngest to oldest and Hispanics are the driving force behind this youth diversity,” said Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire, according to Business Week.
In 2000, the official census count was 281.4 million.
Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch
- Allegations of human rights abuses have followed ex-president of Colombia Álvaro Uribe to Washington, where he is a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. While conclusive evidence of criminal wrongdoing has not surfaced, Georgetown students and the attorney for Colombian plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit against the Drummond Company are determined to force a showdown.
- Puerto Rican officials and businesses are partnering to launch a new campaign to boost the island’s economy through tourism. Von Diaz has more.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- A kindergarten in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez was set on fire by an unknown group of attackers, after the owner allegedly refused pay extortion money.
- The Mexican peso fell the most in a week after the United States Federal Reserve said the U.S. is barely expanding.
- The United States Supreme Court this week plan to take up the national immigration debate that continues to sit in Congress.
Caribbean
- Customs officials seized an estimated 100,000 Cuban cigars at O’Hare International airport in Chicago on Monday.
- The Dominican Republic has remained largely unaffected by the cholera outbreak ravaging Haiti, the Dominican economy minister said Monday.
- Haitian electoral officials are expected to announce today preliminary results from the country’s chaotic elections.
Central America
- Honduran President Porfirio Lobo says he is seeking a legal solution for the safe return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya that would avoid Zelaya’s detention.
- Doctors in Panama say two girls born attached at the abdomen who share the same heart are in intensive care and face a situation with a high mortality rate.
Andes
- Colombian rescue teams on Monday recovered 21 bodies of victims killed by a mudslide that ripped through a poor hillside area above Medellín, but they feared that more than a hundred other people, including dozens of children, might have died in the disaster.
- Venezuelan soldiers took charge at several privately owned hotels Monday to help accommodate some of the thousands of people who have been forced from their homes by flooding and mudslides following weeks of torrential rains.
- Nobel literature prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa said on Monday he would not run again for the presidency of Peru, saying his candidacy in 1990 had been due to exceptional circumstances.
Southern Cone
- The United States State Department agreed to to the framework for an open-skies aviation deal with Brazil, which could liberalize one of the most restrictive international airline pacts in Latin America by October 2015.
- Argentina announced Monday that it recognizes the Palestinian territories as a free and independent state, following a similar recent move by Brazil.
- Striking mine workers at Chile’s Collahuasi mine accepted a deal to end the 32-day strike and will resume work on Tuesday.
- Bank of Nova Scotia said Monday that it will enter Uruguay’s retail-banking market with the purchase of Nuevo Banco Comercial.
- Paraguay’s economic growth could slow down to 3.5 percent in 2011, after the 9 percent growth forecast for 2010.
Image: Ray_from_LA @ Flickr.
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