More than the population of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina combined.
By Raif Karerat
Follow @ambazaarmag
WASHINGTON, DC: The United States is slated to issue more new green cards over the next decade than the combined populations of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina combined, according to a report from the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest obtained by conservative news outlet Breitbart.
Per Breitbart’s figures, the current populations of the three states add up to 9.3 million, while the estimated dissemination of green cards is expected to reach 10.5 million by 2025.
Under current federal policy, the U.S. issues green cards to approximately 1 million new Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) every single year. For instance, Department of Homeland Security statistics show that the U.S. issued 5.25 million green cards in the last five years, for an average of 1.05 million new legal permanent immigrants annually.
Since the 1950s, visa programs have accounted for the overwhelming majority of immigration to the country for workers and students, as well as refugees and people are seeking political asylum. Critics of U.S. immigration policies have claimed visa programs let corporations substitute lesser-skilled and lower-paid foreigners for unemployed Americans, which has incensed individuals who oppose mass immigration to the U.S.
“The last four decades have witnessed a dramatic change in the wage and employment structure in the United States,” Eric Gould, an economics professor at the Georgetown and Hebrew universities has said, according to Breitbart News. “The overall evidence suggests that the manufacturing and immigration trends have hollowed out the overall demand for middle-skilled workers in all sectors, while increasing the supply of workers in lower-skilled jobs. Both phenomena are producing downward pressure on the relative wages of workers at the low end of the income distribution.”
Critics also lambaste the green card program for allowing immigrants to claim government benefits they believe should be exclusively for American citizens, noted the International Business Times — such as such as federal welfare programs, Social Security, work authorization, and Medicare benefits.