FIGURE4 Post-1965 Immigration Wave Reshapes America's Racial and Ethnic Population Makeup % of U.S. population
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act made significant changes to U.S. immigration policy by sweeping away a long-standing national origins quota system that favored immigrants from Europe and replacing it with one that emphasized family reunification and skilled immigrants. At the time, relatively few anticipated the size or demographic impact of the post-1965 immigration flow (Gjelten, 2015). In absolute numbers, the roughly 59 million immigrants who arrived in the U.S. between 1965 and 2015 exceed those who arrived in the great waves of European-dominated immigration during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Between 1840 and 1889, 14.3 million immigrants came to the U.S., and between 1890 and 1919, an additional 18.2 million arrived (see Table 1 for details).
As a result of its changed makeup and rapid growth, new immigration since 1965 has altered the nation’s racial and ethnic composition. In 1965, 84% of Americans were non-Hispanic whites. By 2015, that share had declined to 62%. Meanwhile, the Hispanic share of the U.S. population rose from 4% in 1965 to 18% in 2015. Asians also saw their share rise, from less than 1% in 1965 to 6% in 2015.
The Pew Research analysis shows that without any post-1965 immigration, the nation’s racial and ethnic composition would be very different today: 75% white, 14% black, 8% Hispanic and less than 1% Asian.
FIGURE4  | Post-1965 Immigration Wave Reshapes America's  | Racial and Ethnic Population Makeup  | % of U.S. population  | 2015 without  | actual  | actual  | actual  | 1965 2015  | 1965  | 2015  | 1965  | immigration  | <1%  | <1%  | OTHER 3  | ASIANK1  | 8  | HISPANIC  | 11  | 11  | 18  | 14  | black  | 12  | 84  | 62  | 84  | 75  | WHITE  | Note Whites blacksand Hispanics Asians includeonlysinge-nace non-Hispanics. Asians include  | Pacific Islanders Hispanics areofany includeonlysinge-nace arriving race Numbers for non-Hispanics. "2015 without 1965 -2015  | immigration" exclude Hispanics immigrants arriving from 1965 to 2015 and their descendants  | Source: Pew Research Center estimates basedon adjusted census data  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 