U.S. Overpopulation....Why Doesn't Anyone Talk About Immigration?

Eric Ruark, Sr. Researcher, FAIR

The size of the world’s population receives a lot of attention from scientists and academics.  The overwhelming consensus among them is that there are simply too many people already on the planet, and that earth’s burgeoning population growth is a recipe for disaster.  Most also believe that governments around the world are not taking this issue very seriously, ignoring what may become an intractable political crisis.  But what to do about it?

That is the question that divides those who deal with population issues.  There are some who advocate direct government intervention in family planning, such as preventing couples from having more than one child.  Most, however, take a more moderate and humane approach, endorsing greater education on family planning, or eliminating tax incentives for couples who have multiple children. 

There is a lot of room for discussion when it comes to the question of population policy.  Unfortunately, one thing that often gets left out of the discussion, but what is crucial to any public policy decision, is immigration.  Even those who work in population related fields many times choose to ignore how international migration fits into the picture.

A good example of skirting the issue was the forum “Population Growth and Rising Consumption: What’s Sustainable?” sponsored by the Population Institute, the Population Media Center and the Wallace Global Fund and held on October 6, 2009.  The forum featured “five prominent experts on population, economics and sustainability” yet there was virtually no mention of immigration.  Only one speaker raised the issue, a Canadian economist and Professor of Environmental Studies at York University, who said “talking about immigration as a tool for population policy, it’s a very touchy and difficult area, but I don’t think we can shy away from it.”

The problem is we are shying away from it, just as the speakers at the population forum did.  Immigration is driving population growth in the U.S., and we are on course to reach a population of one billion by the end of this century.  Isn’t that something that should be discussed by our political leaders, and shouldn’t so-called environmentalists be concerned about the ecological disaster that a billion people in the U.S. would cause?  Right now, politicians in D.C. want to pass legislation that markedly increases the number of people who come into the U.S. each year.  We might reach a billion people sooner than we think. 

What lies behind the exorbitant U.S. immigration numbers is the mistaken belief that we need to grow in order to survive.  True, big business needs cheaper labor and more consumers in order to maximize their profits.  But is this in the best interest of America’s long-term needs.  In order to generate increased revenue developers will hire illegal workers and seek to build on every bit of open land.  They have politicians in their pocket, and have likewise bought off many environmental organizations.  Green, Inc, published in 2008, exposes how large corporations pay off large environmental organizations in order to win “green” endorsements.  Even Wal-Mart has gotten in on the ruse.  

Surely, not all academics are paid off with corporate money.  So, why then do they remain mostly silent about immigration?  Perhaps is a larger political perspective that obstructs their view on this issue.  Or, maybe they find the topic too controversial or complex to approach.  Theoretical models are easier to deal with then the human implications of immigration policy.  Yet, “experts” should consider the human implications of failing to reduce the flow of immigrants to the U.S.

Only by reducing immigration can the U.S. achieve population stability, and it is the only way to begin to achieve environmental sustainability.  That conversation has been ignored for over forty years, and any discussion of population growth or environmental policy that disregards immigration is inherently flawed and can lead to no genuine solution.  How can Americans advise others around the world to adopt sustainable population policies when our own situation is out of control?  The lesson we are teaching is that exponential growth is the key to economic prosperity, the way to the American Dream.  This is a catastrophic message to send to the rest of the world, and one that will result in catastrophe for us, as well.