A couple of recent reports on immigration do much to inform the debate on the topic. All sides should pay attention.
The first report, by the Pew Research Center, reaches the eye-opening conclusion that 88 percent of the U.S. population increase between 2015 and 2065 (to 441 million) will come from immigrants and their descendants.
It breaks down this way: 56 percent of this growth will be from new immigrants; 26 percent because of the addition to the country of their U.S. born children; and 5 percent from the immigrants’ grandchildren by 2065. Another 12 percent will come from the growth generated by people who were already here in 2015.
And the foreign-born, says Pew, will still account for only 18 percent of the U.S. population in 2065, “only” being a relative term. This will exceed the historic high of 14.8 percent set in 1890, but it will still mean at least 82 percent of residents will be U.S. citizens. And the number of citizens will certainly be even higher than that because foreign-born doesn’t mean a person hasn’t been naturalized, though the naturalization rates for immigrants can stand some improvement.
Have fears about their failure to assimilate and what this means to the social fabric? Don’t. Another report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says assimilation is occurring as quickly as previous immigrant waves, measured in improvement in education, the quality of jobs secured over time and income gains. And this process includes learning English — the only language spoken by the third generation of those immigrant households.
But there’s a twist. Incarceration rates are lower and labor participation higher for immigrants, who also tend to be healthier than the native-born in many respects. At some point, however, their native-born progeny start mimicking their fellow native-born — which means they start getting jailed at the same rates and developing work habits like the native-born.
But they are assimilating and will likely do so even more quickly if immigration reform offers a path to legal residency. The anti-immigration rhetoric of late simply isn’t supported by the conclusions outlined in these reports.
From the San Antonio Express-News via The Associated Press.
