US census shows majority of babies now from ethnic minorities A crowd listens to Barack Obama speak about immigration in Texas. The 2011 census shows fewer Hispanic people are entering the US. Racial and ethnic minorities make up more than half the children born in the US for the first time, capping decades of immigration growth that is now slowing. The 2011 census estimates highlight sweeping changes in America's racial makeup and the prolonged impact of a weak economy, which is resulting in fewer Hispanic people entering the country. "This is an important landmark," said Roderick Harrison, a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau who is a sociologist at Howard University. This generation is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its elders. The report comes as the supreme court prepares to rule on the legality of Arizona's strict immigration law, with many states considering similar measures. "We remain in a dangerous period where those appealing to anti-immigration elements are fuelling a divisiveness and hostility that might take decades to overcome," Harrison said. As a whole, America's minority ethnic population continues to rise, following a higher than expected levels of Hispanic people in the 2010 census. Minority ethnic populations increased 1.9% to 114.1 million, or 36.6% of the total population, lifted by prior waves of immigration that brought in young families and boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years. But a recent slowdown in the growth of the Hispanic and Asian populations is shifting forecasts of when non-Hispanic white people are likely to become a minority. With 2010 census results suggesting this could happen as early as 2040, demographers now believe the pivotal moment may be pushed back several years in the light of new projections to be released in December. The annual growth rates for Hispanic and Asian populations fell sharply last year to just over 2%, roughly half the rates in 2000 and the lowest in more than a decade. Among black people, the growth rate stayed flat at 1%. Pointing to a longer-term decline in immigration, demographers believe the Hispanic population boom may have peaked. "The Latino population is very young, which means they will continue to have a lot of births relative to the general population," said Mark Mather, associate vice-president of the Population Reference Bureau. But we're seeing a slowdown that is likely the result of multiple factors: declining Latina birth rates combined with lower immigration levels. If both of these trends continue, they will lead to big changes down the road. William H Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analysed the census data, noted that government debates over immigration enforcement may become less pressing, given slowing growth. "The current congressional and supreme court interest in reducing immigration - and the concerns especially about low-skilled and undocumented Hispanic immigration - represent issues that could well be behind us," he said. Minority ethnic groups made up roughly 2.02 million, or 50.4% of US births in the 12-month period ending July 2011. That compares with 37% in 1990. According to the latest data, the percentage growth of the Hispanic population slowed from 4.2% in 2001 to 2.5% last year. Growth would have been even lower if it weren't for relatively high fertility rates - seven births for every death. The median age of US Hispanic people is 27.6 years. Births have been declining for both white people and minority ethnic groups as many women postponed having children during the economic slump. But the drop since 2008 has been greater for white people, who have a median age of 42. The number of white births fell by 11.4%, compared with 3.2% for minority ethnic groups, according to Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire.