Immigration

There’s a lot of talk, more than action, on immigration these days (May 2007). Indeed, it is a monumental question and ought to be taken seriously. I am a bit prejudiced because my late mother was an immigrant arriving with many others at Ellis Island in 1914. She grew up in Sweden, moved from her country home to a nearby village and became a seamstress. At the age of 22, with an older sister already in the US and with few prospects available, she left her native land, never to return as cancer cut her life short at age 39.

She fully intended to become an American citizen, learned English and became a Registered Nurse, married the son of immigrants, bore two children and loved her newly adopted country. My regrets? That I barely knew her as I was a wee lad of three when she left us involuntarily.

Let me share a few tidbits with you about immigration in the US that you may or may not know. We all know that the United States of America is an immigrant country. From its founding days until today, immigrants have been welcome, and many have made our country what it is. A study entitled Immigration by the Numbers and a video by Roy Beck, an immigration scholar, provide most of the statistics I am using in another of my nostalgic senior moments.

The Golden Age (which set the standard in a sense) of Immigration (1920-1965) followed the Great Wave of Immigration (1900-1910) when 16.3 million immigrants entered the country. 1990-2000 was known as the Biggest Population Boom with the US increasing by 32.7 million persons. In all, it is estimated that from 1776-1976, about 250,000 immigrants entered our country annually.

However, in 1965, Congress, inadvertently it is said, changed the immigration restrictions by allowing a much broader group of immigrants (e.g., a growing chain of family connections) to enter the country. From 1925 until 1965, about 178,000 immigrants entered the US annually. However, from 1990-2005, over one million immigrants entered the country annually (and this does not count those who entered unauthorized).

Statisticians projected in 1973 that with the prevailing norm of 2.1 children per family, the population of the US would reach 247,000,000 in 2030, not 300,000,000 in 2007. Roy Beck made it clear in his presentation that the problem is not immigrants, only the numbers of them. He went on to show how the whole country is affected with growing numbers of immigrants demanding more housing, infrastructures, roads, utilities, schools and increasingly enlarging cities.

Even with the millions entering the country, we cannot make a dent in assimilating people from the third world, or even outcasts and aliens from their own countries. If this growth, coupled with unauthorized immigrants continues, with increased immigrant family size and a certain tendency toward a lack of assimilation, the exponential growth will exceed the ability of the country to provide for its citizens.

There is no doubt we are enriched as a nation comprised of many peoples with their customs, traditions and contributions to the culture, fabric and needs of our nation. However, unless we can limit the number of legal immigrants and disallow undesirables and unauthorized hopefuls, the population will spin out of control. This will be disastrous, not only for the citizens of the US, but for incoming, desirable and sanctioned immigrants. What is your take on this?