Change the Numbers
April 23, 2010
by Phil Cafaro
For decades, studies by the US Census Bureau and independent demographers have agreed: high immigration levels are leading to a huge increase in the numbers of Americans. Not only that — continuing mass immigration will ensure that the US population grows by hundreds of millions more over the next century. Reducing immigration, on the other hand, could help us stabilize our population.
The studies are valuable, but it’s easy to get bogged down in their qualifications and technicalities. A new graphic feature from NumbersUSA can help cut through the clutter and show how immigration levels we set today will determine the America of tomorrow.
“Change the Numbers” at www.numbersusa.com/change/immigration/numbers/ lets you do just that. Starting with a graph showing population projections out to 2050 at current immigration levels, it lets you set those numbers higher or lower, for both legal and illegal immigration. So you can see how relatively small differences in annual immigrations levels make a huge difference, as they cumulate year after year. You can see the difference enforcing immigration laws might make on future U.S. population numbers.
For example: at current immigration levels, we are set to increase our population from 310 million to 441 million by 2050. But if we cut legal immigration in half, to 500,000 annually, and cut illegal immigration by two-thirds to 250,000, then we “only” grow to 397 million by 2050 — 44 million less.
Keep current levels at 1 million per year and do away with all illegal immigration, and we still increase our population to 408 million in four decades. This shows clearly that most of our population increase is due to legal, not illegal immigration.
Place a complete “time out” on immigration, and the US population still grows, but only to 361 million by 2050 – about a third of what it is projected to grow by if we continue with the immigration status quo.
It’s fascinating to see what “changing the numbers” could do. It’s also empowering. This little exercise reminds us that immigration levels aren’t set in stone, but by acts of Congress and by whether federal administrations chose to enforce immigration laws.
The numbers can and do change over time. Most important, they can go down as well as up. Check it out at www.numbersusa.com/change/immigration/numbers/.
