U.S. Population to Reach
468 Million by 2060
f the
current rate of immigration continues, America's population
will grow by 167 million to reach a staggering total of
468 million people by 2060, according to new calculations
of Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies
in Washington, D.C.
The total projected population growth from immigration and
births to natives as well as immigrants is equal to the
combined populations of Great Britain, France, and Spain,
raising disturbing questions about the impact that mass
immigration has on quality-of-life issues such as urban
sprawl, overcrowding, stress on the environment and natural
resources, loss of open spaces, and pollution.
"The central question this study raises and that Americans
must answer is what costs and benefits come with having
a much larger population and more densely settled country,"
the report said.
The report found that immigration is the single largest
factor in America's rapid population growth. Currently,
1.6 million legal and illegal immigrants enter the U.S.
each year, while an estimated 350,000 immigrants leave,
resulting in a net immigration rate of 1.25 million. That
means America's population will be 105 million larger than
it would be otherwise. As a result, immigrants and their
offspring will account for 63 percent of total population
growth between now and 2060.
"What these projections do tell us is where we are
headed as a country," said CIS in a prepared statement.
"The question for the nation is: Do we wish to go there?"
Entitled "100 Million More: Projecting the Impact of
Immigration on the U.S. Population 2007 to 2060," the
report also found the following:
-- If annual net immigration were reduced to 300,000, future
immigration would add 25 million people to the U.S. by 2060,
80 million fewer than the current level will add.
-- Because net immigration has been increasing for five
decades, the continuing trend could cause the projected
increase in immigration could be higher than the study's
findings.
The study shows that increased population due to mass immigration
is unlikely to significantly change the worker/retiree ratio
in a way that would bail out America's doomed Social Security
retirement system. That's because at current immigration
levels, 61 percent of the nation's population will be of
working age (15 to 66) in 2060, compared to 60 percent if
net immigration were reduced to 300,000 a year. Even if
net immigration were doubled to 2.5 million a year, the
share of the working-age population would be increased by
only one percent, to 62 percent by 2060.
