1 in 7 US residents will be an immigrant.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Legal and undocumented immigrants will combine to reach a record high of 51 million in eight years and eventually account for 82 percent of all population growth in the U.S., according to new Census figures.
The Center for Immigration Studies analyzed the data and surmised by 2023, one in seven U.S. residents will be an immigrant, as reported by the Washington Examiner. The figure will rise to one in five by 2060 when the immigrant population totals 78 million.
“These numbers have important implications for workers, schools, infrastructure, congestion and the environment,” said Steven Camarota, the center’s director of research. “They also may have implications for our ability to successfully assimilate and integrate immigrants. Yet there has been almost no national debate about bringing in so many people legally each year, which is the primary factor driving these numbers.”
Earlier this week Gov. Scott Walker positioned himself even further right than most of his fellow GOP members when he stated legal immigration needed to be reformed to protect “American workers and American wages.”
In a letter to The New York Times on Saturday, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Al.) wrote, “It defies reason to argue that the record admission of new foreign workers has no negative effect on the wages of American workers, including the wages of past immigrants hoping to climb into the middle class. Why would many of the largest business groups in the United States spend millions lobbying for the admission of more foreign workers if such policies did not cut labor costs?”
Conversely, the Examiner revealed on April 24 key business leaders — including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a consortium associated with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg — will lobby to bolster immigration at a briefing in the Senate office building. The title of the closed session is “Understanding and Improving the High-Skilled H-1B Visa Program.”