By Jeffrey Thomas

USINFO Staff Writer

By SOP newswire

Washington – Since the founding of the United States, its population has been growing at a rate that some scientists say is unprecedented in human history. Some believe that this population explosion made the United States one of the most prosperous countries of the world, but others point to congestion, urban sprawl, traffic, pollution, loss of open spaces and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions as negative effects of rapid population growth.

A new report projects that current levels of immigration will add 105 million to the U.S. population by 2060, while having little effect on the rise in the median age in the U.S population.

The report, 100 Million More: Projecting the Impact of Immigration on the U.S. Population, 2007 to 2060, was prepared by Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, an independent research institute. Camarota based his projections on U.S. Census Bureau data and Census Bureau assumptions about future birth and death rates.

According to the report, about 1.6 million legal and illegal immigrants settle in the country and 350,000 people leave the United States each year, resulting in a net immigration of 1.25 million. If immigration continues at current levels, the nation’s population will increase from 301 million today to 468 million in 2060 -- a 167 million (or 56 percent) increase. Future immigrants and their descendants will account for 105 million (or 63 percent) of the increase.

Net immigration into the United States has been increasing for five decades. If that trend continues, the report predicts the increase caused by immigration will be higher than the projected 105 million.

The report shows that even immigration has a very large impact on the size of the nation's population, it has only a small effect in slowing the aging of American society. Some proponents of immigration have argued large numbers of immigrants are necessary to forestall the aging of society and a consequent imbalance between workers and retirees.

According to the report, most of the projected population increase will come from legal immigration. Illegal immigration will add 37.9 million to the U.S. population by 2060, given current trends, and legal immigration will add 67.4 million, Camarota found.

Camarota said that he believes the central question raised by his projections “is what costs and benefits come with having a much larger population and a more densely settled country.â€