Immigration-Driven Population Growth Arguments Disregard Inequality

Earlier this month, The Washington Post and The New York Times yet again published articles extolling immigration-driven population growth while ignoring how it contributes to inequality through its negative impact on American workers.

In “Amid Slowdown, Immigration Is Driving U.S. Population Growth” New York Times writers Miriam Jordan and Robert Gebeloff are elated that “immigration appears to be back on the rise.”

The economic and political circumstances that compel people to leave their home countries have persisted, and demand for foreign workers of all skill levels remains brisk.

The newcomers since President Biden took office come from all over the globe, as the government has lifted the cap on refugees, welcomed thousands of families seeking asylum on the southwestern border and reopened the door to foreign workers on temporary visas.”

In The Washington Post column: “The U.S. needs more immigrants and more babies”, the Editorial Board opined:

Robust population growth not only provides more workers to sustain the young and the old; more people means more of the intellectual exchange, idea creation, entrepreneurship and competition that result from people interacting in a free, capitalist society. National policy should promote vigorous population expansion.”

These articles blatantly overlook how: The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report shows that 3.7 million people are working part time but want to work full time and 5.7 million people are not counted as unemployed but want a job; wage gains for most workers have been overtaken by rising costs; and Black workers are systemically last hired and, according to the Pew Research Center, “experience higher levels of economic insecurity than Americans overall.”

In explaining conversations that need to be had regarding immigration and inequality, Roy Beck states in Back of the Hiring Line:

If our nation desires less inequality in the future, we must understand the role of immigration policies in narrowing or widening it in the past. The gaping disparities of the present call on us to engage in a civil discussion about immigration policies that can contribute to a more fair and just society for Americans of all races, ethnicities, and national origins.”

Beck’s Twitter thread summarizes how immigration and inequality have worked throughout American history.

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LISA IRVING is the Volunteer Coordinator for NumbersUSA’s Media Standards Project