U.S. Population to Reach
468 Million by 2060

f the current rate of immigration continues, America's population will grow by 167 million to reach a staggering total of 468 million people by 2060, according to new calculations of Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C.

The total projected population growth from immigration and births to natives as well as immigrants is equal to the combined populations of Great Britain, France, and Spain, raising disturbing questions about the impact that mass immigration has on quality-of-life issues such as urban sprawl, overcrowding, stress on the environment and natural resources, loss of open spaces, and pollution.

"The central question this study raises and that Americans must answer is what costs and benefits come with having a much larger population and more densely settled country," the report said.

The report found that immigration is the single largest factor in America's rapid population growth. Currently, 1.6 million legal and illegal immigrants enter the U.S. each year, while an estimated 350,000 immigrants leave, resulting in a net immigration rate of 1.25 million. That means America's population will be 105 million larger than it would be otherwise. As a result, immigrants and their offspring will account for 63 percent of total population growth between now and 2060.

"What these projections do tell us is where we are headed as a country," said CIS in a prepared statement. "The question for the nation is: Do we wish to go there?"

Entitled "100 Million More: Projecting the Impact of Immigration on the U.S. Population 2007 to 2060," the report also found the following:

-- If annual net immigration were reduced to 300,000, future immigration would add 25 million people to the U.S. by 2060, 80 million fewer than the current level will add.

-- Because net immigration has been increasing for five decades, the continuing trend could cause the projected increase in immigration could be higher than the study's findings.

The study shows that increased population due to mass immigration is unlikely to significantly change the worker/retiree ratio in a way that would bail out America's doomed Social Security retirement system. That's because at current immigration levels, 61 percent of the nation's population will be of working age (15 to 66) in 2060, compared to 60 percent if net immigration were reduced to 300,000 a year. Even if net immigration were doubled to 2.5 million a year, the share of the working-age population would be increased by only one percent, to 62 percent by 2060.

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