Dear HCN,
In a recent essay (-All
our backs are a bit wet,” HCN, 10/11/99), Jack McGarvey suggests
that U.S. immigration and border enforcement policies are racially
motivated and that U.S. immigration policies give preferential
treatment to Canadians over Mexicans. When examined in the light of
U.S. Census data, however, this race card is soundly trumped by
demographic facts.
Since 1970, Mexicans have
represented about 27 percent of all immigrants to the U.S., far
more than any other nation and slightly more than all Asian nations
combined. Canadians do not “rank second in numbers to the darker
folk coming from south of the border.” Since 1970, Canadians have
represented only about 2.3 percent of all immigrants to the U.S.
Canada is not among the top 10 source nations of U.S. immigrants.
The nation sending the second largest percentage of immigrants to
the U.S. during this period was China, representing about 5.3
percent of U.S. immigrants. Other nations sending large percentages
of immigrants to the U.S. include the Philippines, Vietnam, El
Salvador, India and Korea. It is hard to detect biases against
non-Caucasians in these data.
Over 1 million
immigrants enter the U.S. each year, approximately 825,000 legally
and some 300,000 illegally. The U.S. allows more immigrants each
year than does the rest of the world combined. High immigration
quotas have given the U.S. the highest population growth rate of
all the G-7 nations. Population growth is an important factor
behind environmental degradation, and immigration is now the main
engine of U.S. population growth. Unless the U.S. Congress adjusts
immigration quotas downward to more traditional (pre-1965) levels,
U.S. population will increase from 274 million to near or above 400
million in the next 50 years, with immigration accounting for
roughly 90 percent of this growth.
The poverty of
millions of people in Mexico is unfortunate, and there is a strong
case to be made for increasing foreign aid to Mexico and other
developing nations. But opening the U.S. borders will not solve the
world’s overpopulation problems.
Jeffrey
Jacobs
Alexandria,
Virginia
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Race card trumped.
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