The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media
“Immigration is essential to America’s health, otherwise we would be losing population and heading to a downward economic spiral. According to Census Bureau figures published Thursday, international migration accounted for about 84% of the country’s roughly 3.3-million-person increase between 2023 and 2024; without it, the U.S. population would be without a shadow of a doubt stagnating. . . .
“Yet, the No. 1 policy solution to a declining working-age population and its strains on the economy and the social safety system is the one answer that Trump and Musk won’t embrace: immigration. . . .
“There is no substitute; no one has found an alternative, anywhere. Japan is on the brink of population disaster because they’ve tried every solution except a broader loosening of immigration laws.
“Only recently, in the face of an ever-worsening crisis, have the Japanese lurched towards the obvious, too late to head off some of the painful effects of a warped population pyramid: too few young workers to support too many retired seniors. And the problem keeps getting worse as birth rates decline.
“Europe is on the same path of declining populations, stubbornly refusing to accept that the much-maligned waves of recent immigration have been a lifeline. The anti-immigrant rhetoric has been so acute that an anti-immigration far-right extremist in Germany — ironically himself an immigrant — just attacked a holiday market, killing at least five and injuring hundreds.
“The United States’ global primacy, the very idea of American exceptionalism itself, rests entirely on a base of mass immigration that has fueled our growth with newcomers from around the world. The immigrants and their descendants then become Americans. This is not and has never been a matter of opinion; opponents will claim that this idea is “woke” or globalist or any number of other loose ideological terms because they cannot refute it on the merits.
“There is no American Century, no dollar as reserve currency, no unmatched military, no soft power, no cultural dominance, no scientific preeminence, no industrial might without the absorption of talent and labor from everywhere else. We can only hope this most fundamental of American ideals survives the second Trump era, before irreversible damage is done.” — Immigration is good for America — Newcomers Are the Clear Answer to Population Collapse, Editorial Board. New York Daily News, 12/27/24 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: The claims of this article rest on false assumptions: Number one is the false idea that a country must have a constantly growing population in order to prosper. For all of its problems, Japan is a lot more prosperous than South Sudan and Niger, the countries with the highest growth rates. Prosperity depends on many factors, the most notable one being culture. Japan has prospered because its citizens are industrious and disciplined. They are able to work together for mutual benefit because they have a common culture. They don’t have diversity, so multiculturalism doesn’t divide them. As an inventive people, the Japanese may be able to fill jobs with automation.
Number two is the false idea that immigration can meet America’s manpower needs by lowering our average age, and thereby provide us with more working-age people. The reality is that immigrants coming to America are increasing in age and declining in fertility. Even sharply increasing our already record level of legal immigration won’t change our age profile very much.
Number three is the false idea that unending mass immigration has no downsides. Even if we assume that it offers some economic benefits, there are significant losses. Our environment and ecology will not fare will if surging population growth never subsides. The prospect of huddled masses overwhelming nature runs counter to our heritage of wide open spaces. Furthermore, as alluded to with the example of Japan, we diminish our national unity and greatness, with uncontrolled diversity propelled by immigration.
Americans are increasingly showing disfavor with mass immigration, and rightly so. The same is true in Europe. Recently, an immigrant plowed his vehicle into a Christmas market in Germany. Ludicrously, this article tried to blame the incident anti-immigration sentiment because of views the assailant allegedly held. That of course misses the point. The incident wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been in Germany.
Mass immigration advocates keep missing the point because their false assumptions keep leading them to false conclusions.