Followed only by Arabic, says CIS study.
More than one in five US residents speak a foreign language at home, said a report published by the Center for Immigration Studies.
The study based on Census Bureau data shows that a record 64.7 million U.S. residents five years of age and older spoke a language other than English at home in 2015.
The number of non-English speakers went up 5.2 million since 2010 and increased by 1.5 million in just the last year. The largest percentage increases from 2010 to 2015 were for speakers of Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu, said CIS study.
The number of non-English speakers in the US has more than doubled since 1990 when 31.8 million spoke a language other than English.
“A common language is the means by which immigrant groups communicate with each other and with the larger society,” said Steven Camarota, the center’s director of research and co-author of the new report.
As a share of the population, 21.5 percent of U.S. residents speak a foreign language at home — nearly double the 11 percent in 1980. The largest percentage increases from 2010 to 2015 were among speakers of Arabic (up 34 percent), Hindi (up 33 percent), Urdu (up 24 percent), Chinese (up 19 percent), French Creole (up 16 percent), Gujarati (up 14 percent), and Persian (up 13 percent).
The programs of the federal government such as refugee resettlement, the visa lottery, employment-based programs to help people from Muslim-majority nations are the major reasons for the rise in Arabic speaking population. Every year, more than 130,000 green cards are issued to persons from Muslim-majority countries.
Many of those who speak a foreign language at home are not immigrants. In fact, half of the growth in foreign-language speakers since 2010 is among those born in the United States. Overall, 44 percent (28.5 million) of those who speak a language other than English at home are U.S.-born.