Amid Slowdown, Immigration Is Driving U.S. Population Growth – The New York Times

By Miriam Jordan and Robert GebeloffFeb. 5, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ETOverall, 2021 will go down as the year with the slowest population growth in U.S. history.New census data shows why: Both components of growth — gains from immigration, and the number of births in excess of the number of deaths — have fallen sharply in recent years. In 2021, the rate of population growth fell to an unprecedented 0.1 percent.Yet within these sluggish figures a new pattern is emerging. Immigration, even at reduced levels, is for the first time making up a majority of population growth.In part this is because Americans are dying at higher rates and having fewer babies, trends accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s also because there are signs that immigration is picking up again.

Biden Seeks Help on Border From Mexican President – The New York Times

“. . .The Biden administration has also formed a task force to unite parents separated from their children under Mr. Trump’s family separations policy. Mr. Mayorkas said on Monday that Michelle Brané, the former director of migrant rights and justice at the Women’s Refugee Commission, would lead the effort to unite the families, who could be provided the option to remain in the United States permanently. Mr. Mayorkas stopped short of promising the parents citizenship.

Republicans have already signaled that they intend to seize on Mr. Biden’s reversals of his predecessor’s immigration policies as a cornerstone in their efforts to take back Congress in 2022 and recapture the White House two years later.

In an echo of his successful 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump has already offered a road map for Republican candidates in 2022 by once again exaggerating the situation at the border and falsely stating that Mr. Biden’s approach is “to cancel border security.” . . .

David Lindsay: Excellent NYT article and comments.  If Biden doesn’t show he is against illegal immigration, like over half the country, he will lose the Senate, and possibly the White House and the House of Representatives. To stop illegal immigration by birth, we will have to modify the 14th Amendment, which says that if you are born here, you are a citizen, and was to protect black slaves in America from disenfranchisement after the Civil War.

Here are the most popular comments at the Times to date:

Doug

PA4h ago

This is the one place I fear Trump could win again in 4 years if not handled decisively. We need to be firm yet compassionate in our approach. So much of it is a PR war; we can’t make it look like it’s open season for illegal immigration. Please Joe, don’t mess this up.

5 Replies60 Recommended

 

Talbot

New York3h ago

As the Times reported yesterday, the mayor of Del Rio is begging the federal government to stop releasing migrants into his city without federal aid. He said the city is being forced to choose between helping the migrants and its own citizens. During the last surge, communities on Long Island with large immigrant populations saw hundreds of mostly teenage boys–many with little previous education and no English–suddenly added to their school systems. They struggled with a legal mandate to provide education. This struggle will be even greater during the pandemic. We can’t simply release thousands of migrants to struggling communities, however good the impulse.

Reply47 Recommended

 

 

Sue

New Jersey2h ago

Times Pick

I loathe Trump, but he was right in stopping illegal immigration.

2 Replies43 Recommended

New Trump Deportation Rules Allow Far More Expulsions – The New York Times

“WASHINGTON — President Trump has directed his administration to enforce the nation’s immigration laws more aggressively, unleashing the full force of the federal government to find, arrest and deport those in the country illegally, regardless of whether they have committed serious crimes.

Documents released on Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security revealed the broad scope of the president’s ambitions: to publicize crimes by undocumented immigrants; strip such immigrants of privacy protections; enlist local police officers as enforcers; erect new detention facilities; discourage asylum seekers; and, ultimately, speed up deportations.”

Excellent reporting. Thank you Misters Shear and Nixon. I wanted immigration reform, but not this way. The comments are more critical, and more alarming, than the article. I agree that this is the wrong way. It opens up the faucet for employers to be abusive. At the end of the month, don’t pay the hard worker, have him or her deported. This method appears to pander the worst among us, while giving license to the bullies and scoundrels of business.

Germany, Refugee Nation – The New York Times

“There’s a new can-do nation. It’s called Germany. The United States, fear-ridden, has passed the torch.From Our AdvertisersThroughout the extraordinary process that has seen roughly one million refugees arrive in Germany this year, Chancellor Angela Merkel has had a consistent refrain: “Wir schaffen das” — “We can do this.” The gesture in question is the most extraordinary redemptive act by any European nation in many years.Germans on the whole have understood. They have understood that to flee Syria through Islamic State checkpoints, place your family in flimsy boats on stormy waters and trudge across Europe in search of a home is not a desperate decision. It is a reasonable decision if the alternative is to see your children blown up by a barrel bomb or your daughter raped by a jihadist. Postwar Germans are reasonable people.Roger CohenInternational affairs and diplomacy. The Assassination in Israel That Worked Trump’s Weimar America The Evil That Cannot Be Left Unanswered Terror From Europe’s Future Street Young Lives InterruptedSee More »The United States would have had to admit about 4 million refugees this year to take in a similar proportion of its population. It has fallen more than 3.9 million short of that mark.”

Source: Germany, Refugee Nation – The New York Times

When I get beat in tennis, I say to my worthy opponent, thank you for the tennis lesson.Thank you Roger Cohen, for an extraordinary piece of writing.  I predicted a month ago that the Germans would turn on Angela Merkel for her leadership and generosity and Christian behavior. I hope that you are right that the majority of Germans will stay by this bold leadership. I agree with you that the fear-mongering of our Republican leaders is base, and embarrassing.
Your points are well expressed and argued. But what about the waves of refugees coming year after year. Some of us just learned that Iran is running out of water. The world just grew in 70 years from 2 to 7 billion, and greenhouse gas emissions have risen in the exact same curve, or graph, a backwards L. __| .  When sea level rises 1 or 2 meters, how many refugees will there be?
And last, Paul Krugman has written that the Germans have been too hard on Greece. Please expand on your piece, and explain how she opened Germany’s coffers too them, contrary to what others have written.