Politifact Rates Population Shortage Claim ‘Mostly False’

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Last week Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) claimed that without immigration the U.S. would not have the population to fulfill the labor needs of the U.S. economy. Poltifact rated this claim mostly false based on a recent Pew study that showed that without legal or illegal immigration the U.S. population would still have increased by 31%.

“But for immigration, we would have a contracting population, and a contracting population means a contracting economy… don’t think – not even just long-term, but short-term – about the employee needs this country has,” said Rep. Beyer during a radio interview.

When asked about this comment Rep. Beyer’s Director of Communications, Thomas Scanlon, pointed to a recent Pew study to back his Member’s claims. However, the study actually contradicts his statement.

The Pew report centers on the changes made to U.S. immigration law by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act), and the demographic shifts that have occurred due to those changes. The study shows that the U.S. population has grown by 68% since 1965. If no immigrants had entered the U.S. after 1965 the population would have still increased by 31%, not decreased as Rep. Beyer claimed.

Since 1965, 59 million immigrants have arrived in the United States, and the foreign-born population now stands at 14%, up from 5% in 1965. If the federal government continues to grant 1 million green cards per year, the foreign-born population will reach 78 million in 2065, or 17.7% of the total population.

While immigration levels have increased wages for lower-skilled workers due to high levels of competition have remained stagnant. A recent study from the Center for Immigration Studies revealed that all the employment gains between 2000 and 2014 went to foreign-born workers. The number of native-born workers remained flat over that time even though the pool of foreign-born workers grew by 17 million.

Read more on this story at Politifact.