Surging Legal and Illegal Immigration

From Numbers USA

Immigration surged over the last two years, according to new research from the Center for Immigration Studies. CIS analyzed public Census Bureau data and determined that 3.1 million new immigrants, both legal and illegal, settled in the United States in 2014-2015 -- a 39% increase compared to the previous two years.

The 3.1 million new foreign citizens added to U.S. over the last two years is larger than the population of Chicago -- the country's third largest city.

Legal immigration accounted for two-thirds of the total figure. In addition to the continued high number of green cards issued each year, a large number of non-immigrants were in the country long enough to show up in the Census figures, including foreign students and cultural exchange visitors. According to CIS, the number of long-term, non-immigrant visas issued in 2014-15 increased by more than half a million when compared to the previous two years.

While it can be difficult to contemplate exactly how big the number of new immigrant arrivals are from the last two years, consider this... Chicago, with a population roughly equal to the number of new immigrants, has more than 600 public schools, 4,000 miles of roads, and 3,000,000 housing units. These are just a few of the infrastructure improvements that will need to be built to help accommodate these new arrivals.

ILLEGAL MIGRATION BACK TO PRE-RECESSION LEVELS
The most alarming detail from the CIS report might be that illegal migration has returned to its pre-recession levels. Approximately 1.1 million new illegal aliens settled in the United States over the last two years after several years of very little change in the overall illegal-alien population.

Several factors have likely contributed to the rise in illegal migration since 2014. First, most of the illegal border crossers from the 2014 surge of Central American families and young people are still present in the United States. And the elevated number of illegal border crossings continues even after the surge. The Border Patrol recently reported that apprehensions in April 2016 were at their highest level since the '14 surge.

Second, in 2014, Pres. Obama announced new executive actions that greatly reduced the number of illegal aliens who could be deported. Combine that with the existence of more than 300 Sanctuary Cities across the country and a catch-and-release policy that requires Border Patrol agents to release any illegal alien they come into contact with if the alien "claims" they entered the country before 2014.

While these administrative actions don't have a direct effect on new illegal-alien arrivals, they certainly send a clear message to the rest of the world that if you can reach the interior of the United States, the government won't deport you.

UNHELPFUL JOB NUMBERS
The 3.1 million new arrivals exacerbates the jobs crisis in the United States. While job creation has been at decent levels over the last year or two, the recently announced job numbers took a hit. The economy added just 38,000 jobs in May and the number of people not in the labor force hit 94.7 million -- the highest number ever. 664,000 Americans left the labor force in May.

Add to that, some in Congress want to permanently quadruple the cap of the H-2B low-skilled, guest worker program. (There are faxes on your Action Board asking your Members of Congress to reject the effort.)

At the current pace of job growth and legal immigration, it'll be nearly impossible for unemployed Americans to get back to work.

Will some Democrat please explain to me why this is acceptable?