Thread: Hispanic baby boom transforming small towns

Hispanic baby boom transforming small towns
Immigration debate overlooks natural growth in population
Jun. 30, 2008 12:00 AM
USA Today
Births, not immigration, now account for most of the growth in the nation's Hispanic population, a distinct reversal of trends of the past 30 years.

The Hispanic baby boom is transforming the demographics of small-town America in a dramatic way. Some rural counties where the population had been shrinking and aging are growing because of Hispanic immigration and births and now must provide services for the young.

"In all of the uproar over immigration, this is getting missed," says Kenneth Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. "All the focus is on immigration. At some point, it's not. It's natural increase."
This natural increase - more births than deaths - is accelerating among Hispanics here because they are younger than the U.S. population as a whole. Their median age is 27.4, compared with 37.9 overall, 40.8 for Whites, 35.4 for Asians and 31.1 for Blacks.

Because they are younger and likely to have more children, Hispanics are having an impact that far outlasts their initial entry into the country. From 2000 to 2007, the Hispanic population grew by 10.2 million - 58.6 percent from natural increase. The total U.S. population grew 20.2 million, about 60 percent from natural increase, in that period.

The influx of Hispanics into parts of the country previously unaccustomed to immigration has intensified this decade. From 2000 to 2005, 221 counties would not have grown except for Hispanics, according to research by Johnson and Daniel Lichter at Cornell University. For declining counties, many in the Great Plains, the growth of young Hispanics may be the only way out of a population spiral.

Because more than half of births to Hispanic immigrants are to low-income women who have no high-school degree, a natural population increase challenges communities, says Steve Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors limits on immigration. "It's a huge growth in low-income population," he says. "If the town is not viable economically, immigration is not going to fix that problem."
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... s0630.html

Many immigration advocates have been quick to point out that Hispanic's fertility rate is the only way to save social security, blah blah blah. What they fail to mention is that it's really "robbing Peter to pay Paul". It's still a net loss.

All it will do is increase the established flow of money towards the Federal government and away from the states. While Washington is busy collecting all of the tax revenue, the states will continue scrounging to pay for illegals' health care, education, welfare, incarceration, etc. with insufficient or non-existent Federal reimbursement. That's essentially why the Federal government convoluted the relationship between the IRS and Homeland Security. God forbid we should interrupt the hundreds of billions the IRS has amassed in the so-called "suspense fund".

On a broader level, we don't need Hispanics to save social security. The solution is in quite the opposite direction. By reducing immigration, we raise wages, broaden the middle class, and provide a prosperous environment so AMERICANS will have more children. Should we still need supplementary labor, we already allow a million people here per year legally.

After all, for many 30-somethings like myself it's not like we don't want kids. Moreso, we're too busy using our depressed, inflation-devalued wages to pay for everyone elses! If that trend were reversed, we would certainly feel safe enough to entertain having a child or three.

Therein lies one difference between us and Mexico. When we have children, we (usually) consider how we're going to pay for them first. We also have a place for those that ignore the laws to "feed their family". It's called prison.

Here in North Carolina, many illegal aliens are women who arent working. Our elementary schools have become mandatory year round due to the huge number of Hispanic children entering kindergartens. These illegal alien mothers need to be identified and deported, just like the men who are working illegally!

WHAT HAPPENED TO HR 1940??? Something is better than NOTHING...and NOTHING is exactly what we are getting! The phony Anchor Baby scam is by far the biggest threat to our sovereignty...we can (still) deport illegals, but what are we supposed to do about tens of millions of the illegal alien lottery tickets? Where is the Supreme Court on this??? It's a no-brainer...the 14th Amendment was intended ONLY for children of slaves!

4/19/2007--Introduced.
Birthright Citizenship Act of 2007 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to consider a person born in the United States "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States for citizenship at birth purposes if the person is born in the United States of parents, one of whom is: (1) a U.S. citizen or national; (2) a lawful permanent resident alien whose residence is in the United States; or (3) an alien performing active service in the armed forces.