The Pew study also incorporates estimates of illegal immigration into its projections.

While tracking a steadily increasing immigrant population in the 21st century, the report also highlights the natural integration likely to occur within those groups.

Latinos are expected to increase to 128 million by 2050, with more than 65 percent of them U.S. born, the study shows. Asians are projected to increase to 41 million, with 53 percent born in this country.

“We’ve got this large buildup of immigrants now and, in the projections, we continue to get immigrants. But it’s a mistake to look at those characteristics and say this is what the population is going to look like in the future,” Passel said, arguing that the country’s ethnic landscape will be more complex.

Acknowledging that prediction could change in another four years, Passel argued the projections are nonetheless important.

“It’s an informative exercise to say: What does this mean for the future?” he said. “We’re just getting to the bottom of that.”