Immigration -- Legal and Otherwise -- Major Factor in U.S. Population Growth
by Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
October 17, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Sometime today -- Tuesday, October 17, 2006 -- the population of the United States will top 300 million, joining China and India as the only nations on the planet to reach that plateau. That's according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Analysts say the baby whose birth marks the historic event is entering a country that is far different than it was 30 years ago -- and a country that will continue to change. In 1970, immigrants constituted less than five percent of the U.S. population -- but that has changed dramatically. Carl Haub with the Population Reference Bureau explains. "A little bit over half of U.S. population growth today comes from immigration and then the children of immigrants, the births they have after they arrive," he says.
And Haub says that change in ethnic makeup is going to continue for foreseeable future. "The U.S. will become much more ethnically diverse over the next 30 or 40 years," he continues. "Already, for example, children below the age of five are almost half a non-majority -- that really does portend a country that is far more diverse than we've been accustomed to."
According to Haub, immigration accounts for about 40 percent of U.S. population growth. And the Hispanic community, say population watchers, plays a major role in that growth because many of the Hispanic women entering the U.S. are of child-bearing age, and they tend to have more children than other women.
Accordingly, the biggest change appears to be the growth in the country's Hispanic population. In the 1970 census, there were only 9.6 million Hispanics living in the U.S. The estimated number today is roughly 43 million.
Poll: Immigration Definitely an Election Issue
An immigration think tank in Washington, DC, has just released the results of a nationwide poll it says demonstrates there is "intense" voter concern over the issue of illegal immigration -- particularly in 14 congressional districts that will be decided next month. In all cases, says the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the four Senate and 10 House races are considered "tight."
Among the findings of the poll was this: voters are less likely to vote for candidates who favor increasing legal immigration. The CIS says experts agree that the bill passed earlier this year by the Senate would at least double future legal immigration -- yet 70 percent of voters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who support such growth.
And evidently -- according to this poll, at least -- voters prefer the House version of immigration legislation over that put forth by the Senate. CIS notes that some previous polls have reflected support for legalizing illegal immigrants -- but such polls, says CIS, neglected to offer respondents an option of across-the-board enforcement of current immigration laws, which would send illegal immigrants back to their home country. The CIS poll indicates that 44 percent of voters prefer that approach, which happens to be the basis of the House bill; another 20 percent prefer large-scale deportations.
And finally, three-fourths of those polled blamed "grossly inadequate" enforcement efforts in the past for the illegal immigration problem in the U.S. Voters strongly reject the argument that illegal immigration is caused by overly restrictive legal immigration policies, says CIS.
In summary, CIS says the poll results show "strong majorities of Americans want immigration laws enforced and illegal immigrants to go home." And one of the strongest findings, it adds, is that voters "overwhelmingly" oppose increases in legal immigration like that found in the Senate bill passed earlier this year.
