During a press conference this month, Schumer and other Senate Democrats urged ten Senate Republicans to back an amnesty for 3.3 million illegal aliens enrolled and eligible for Obama’s DACA program — providing them with green cards to remain permanently in the U.S. and, eventually, gain naturalized American citizenship.
As part of that plea, Schumer said an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens is necessary to drive up the U.S. population and low birth rates among Americans.
“… we have a population that is not reproducing on its own at the same level that it used to,” Schumer said. “The only way we’re going to have a great future in America is if we welcome and embrace immigrants, the DREAMers, and all of them.”
Schumer also said the Democrats’ “ultimate goal” is to provide amnesty to all 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living across the U.S.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, accompanied by House and Senate Democrats, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The suggestion comes as the U.S. population has increased to the highest total in history, hitting 331,893,745 residents in 2021, driven mostly by legal immigration. For comparison, the population in 1970 stood at 203 million residents.
At current legal immigration levels, whereby more than a million foreign nationals are given green cards annually, the nation’s foreign-born population is expected to hit 70 million by 2060. In 1970, the foreign-born population was fewer than ten million.
Likewise, Schumer’s claim that an amnesty for illegal aliens would boost low birth rates among Americans is unlikely as fertility rates among foreign-born Americans have dropped more rapidly than fertility rates among native-born Americans.
“The total fertility rate for all women (immigrant and native-born) in America in 2019 was 1.76. Excluding immigrants, it would be 1.69 — the rate for natives. The difference is .06 children, or a 4 percent increase in overall total fertility rate in the United States,” Center for Immigration Studies research shows, suggesting more immigration would have a minimal impact on the nation’s low birth rate.
Unmentioned by Democrats, as well as many Republican lawmakers, is crafting a national family agenda that would help boost American birth rates. Hungary’s government has implemented such an agenda, focusing on economic initiatives to make it less expensive for parents to raise children while working.
Since 2010, Hungary’s fertility rate has increased from 1.25 to 1.59 births per woman.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
