The southern Piedmont (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia) is one of the fastest growing regions in the United States. The result is rapidly vanishing open spaces. Population growth in the region is driving sprawl, causing 86% of the loss of open space from 1982 to 2012. Per capita land consumption is responsible for the other 14%. Local, state, and national policies are responsible for attracting new residents to the Piedmont, and immigration policy plays a large role, as 40% of population growth in the southern Piedmont is due to new immigrants and their children.
The Washington Examiner reports the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) and a number groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security, alleging that its policies did not take into consideration the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. Julie Axelrod, IRLI’s lead counsel on the case, said, “Our lawsuit will demonstrate that legal and illegal immigration have a very significant impact on the environment, which DHS has spent the last 46 years ignoring.”