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American Life Expectancy is Now 77.9 Years
Stop the Road - Control the Population


COMMENTARY: by NPG President Donald Mann

Last June, when the American public rallied to kill the illogical and unworkable Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill in the U.S. Senate, a passionate electorate made it very clear that they were willing to accept targeted immigration reform legislation but none that would reward illegal immigrants with citizenship.

The message did not get through to Senate leaders.

The current effort to redraft the DREAM Act to make it more palatable to some members of Congress and more of the American public will not wash. The people still don't want to create any avenue for citizenship for illegals - and that includes children of illegals as well.

I firmly believe that much of the fervent opposition to increasing hordes of illegals being able to enter our country is not simply based on immigration politics but on the growing reality among Americans that our country is already too overcrowded. We must not follow the lead of the open border advocates as it will only exacerbate a looming population crisis.

I was especially pleased to see the widespread media attention given to the report released by the Center for Immigration Studies in late August that reaffirmed much of what NPG has been saying for years - immigration is going to be the driving force for future population growth for decades to come.

As CIS reported, "If immigration continues at current levels, the nation's population will increase from 301 million today to 468 million in 2060 - a 167 million (or 56 percent) increase. Future immigrants plus their descendents will account for 105 million (or 63 percent) of the increase." As CIS noted, "the 105 million figure is equal to the current population of Mexico, where a good percentage of these new immigrants will originate."

The CIS study came to very similar conclusions that Lindsey Grant made in his well-received NPG Forum Paper "It's the Numbers Stupid" that we published in November 2003. As Lindsey noted then, we could look to future projected U.S. population to be the consequence of new immigration. The CIS study came to the exact same conclusion - 63 percent.

Both Lindsey's paper and the new CIS report underscore how immigration drives population growth. Lindsey highlighted that a Zero Net Migration during the 50 years of 2000 to 2050 would result in 76 million fewer people. The CIS study showed that, "If the annual level of net immigration was reduced to 300,000, future immigration would add 25 million people to the population by 2060 - 80 million fewer than the current level would add."

Concurrently, the CIS study also reported that if current U.S net migration was doubled to 2.5 million a year it would create a U.S. population of 575 million by 2060 - double the 2000 Census. Such a shocking number should serve as a major impetus for our nation to set our immigration numbers lower today, rather than to constantly find new reasons to raise them.

In all, the above numbers clearly demonstrate what's at stake in today's immigration debate. Politics aside, it all comes down to numbers - and whether or not we are ready to set our nation spinning toward disastrous population levels.


AMERICAN LIFE EXPECTANCY IS NOW 77.9 YEARS

The release of new figures this week on increased life expectancy for Americans is welcome news. However, in the long term, an aging population that lives longer does not bode well for our nation that has made no plans for how we cope with our growing population crisis. Such statistics only reinforce NPG's call for immediate action in creating a U.S. Commission on Population Growth.

CNN.com carried the story that our new life expectancy of 77.9 years is still lower than that of more than three dozens countries.

The new figures are based on the year 2005 and show an uptick from the figure of 77.8 years reported for 2004. Other comparative numbers show that 10 years ago, in 1995, the U.S. lifespan stood at 75.8. And 40 years ago in 1965, it was 69.6. Life expectancy for women continues to be approximately five years longer than for men.

The tiny nation of Andorra, located in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, has the longest life expectancy at 83.5 years, followed by Japan, Macau, San Marino, and Singapore, which round out the top five nations.

The CNN report quoted Hsain-Ching Kung, the survey statistician who co-authored the report as saying, "If death rates from certain leading causes of death continue to decline, we should continue to see improvements in life expectancy."

The question still looms: What are we going to do with all of those people? Click on the link above for the full story.


STOP THE ROADS - CONTROL THE POPULATION

A story about roads and population in rural New Hampshire should raise concern for the entire country. In late August, a federal judge ruled that state and federal highway officials must consider population growth that would be prompted by widening Interstate 93 in Southern New Hampshire as part of their planning.

According to the story, "the ruling was a significant victory for environmentalists who argue that widening the road to four lanes for 20 miles between Manchester and the Massachusetts border would itself cause population growth that will affect the usefulness of the widening, congest secondary roads and cause air pollution."

The Conservative Law Foundation was front and center in this case arguing that the widening of the Interstate would draw as many as 35,000 new residents to the towns along the highway by 2020. That's a pretty big jump for a small section of an already overcrowded area of this small state. While the judge maintained that the road planners "carefully studied commuter rail before ruling it out," opponents of the road widening hope that the ruling's emphasis on additional residents and air quality might prompt new consideration of a rail line that would be much less polluting and cause less stress on local roads. The Conservative Law Foundation's staff attorney, Tom Irwin, noted "This adds to the need for the state agencies to take a balanced approach here to find a transportation solution that will really work." He added, "We can't build our way out of it just be adding highway lanes."

NPG applauds the judge's decision in this matter as it underscores how many major policy decisions are being made without taking population projections into consideration. It's taken us 35 years to ensure that environmental studies precede major construction projects all across the country. It is time that population studies take their rightful place in planning, as well. Click on the link above for the full story..


POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION NEWS NOTES

MORE TAKE STEPS TO CITIZENSHIP

There is a new surge in citizenship applications that started in March and is expected to continue. Recent government numbers show that more than 110,000 immigrants per month have applied for citizenship during the three month period of March thru May 2007, compared to an average of about 72,000 during the same time last year. The recent national debate on immigration is considered to be the impetus for the increasing number with many individuals acting now to shore up their legal status. Another factor was the increase in application fees which shot from $400 to $675 as of July 30.

ILLEGAL ARRESTS AND RE-ARRESTS

U.S. Senator Jon Kyl recently released a Government Accountability Office study that found that 55,322 criminal aliens were arrested a total of at least 459,614 times; averaging over eight arrests per alien. The Department of Justice expressed surprise at the "extremely high" rate of re-arrests for criminal aliens when it found that 73 criminal aliens in a study group were arrested a total of 429 times. In commenting on the results of the study Senator Kyl noted, "Localities that fail to cooperate with DHS in identifying criminal aliens in their custody may end up paying a steep price. They ensure that criminal aliens who may otherwise be deported, are released back into the community to commit further crimes which they do at an astonishing rate."

BILL INTRODUCED TO ELIMINATE AUTOMATIC BIRTHRIGHT

Congressman Nathan Deal (R-GA) has introduced H.R. 1940, The Birthright Citizenship Act of 2007, which would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act and end the practice of granting automatic citizenship to "anchor babies" -- the U.S. born children of illegal aliens. It is reported that nearly 300,000 "anchor babies" are born in the U.S. each year. As automatic citizens they are eligible to sponsor their parents and other relatives to become citizens when they turn 21 years of age. U.S. policy on "anchor babies" is among the most liberal in the world. Nearly every other country, including the countries of Europe, require that at least one parent be a citizen or permanent resident for a child to automatically become a citizen.

THANKS FOR NPG SCHOLARSHIP

NPG awarded our Annual Essay Scholarships for the 2007-2008 academic year in early August and we were pleased to receive a grateful "thank you" letter from one of our $500 winners almost immediately.

Nicholas Murray is a freshman studying at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA. He is a 2007 graduate of Canyon High School in Santa Clarita, CA, where he ranked 58 out of 600. Nicholas' aim is to gain a bachelors degree in Environmental Engineering and go on from there to get a master's degree as well. His goal in life is to teach science at the high school or junior high level. Nicholas concluded his thank you letter by noting, "Your gracious contributions to deserving high school students are a blessing to college bound students." We wish him well in his studies.

Other recipients of this years NPG Essay Scholarships include Brianna Kohr (UCLA), Zhihan Chen (Harvard), Bryan Jackson (Northern Illinois University), and Carolyn Taylor (Indiana University-Bloomington).


QUOTABLE

"Mexico does not end at its borders'Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."

Mexican President Felipe Calderon


"The [sanctuary] policies that were implemented and embraced by mayors in places like New York City severely undermined the enforcement of our immigration laws and weakened our ability to secure the nation's borders. The public officials who openly advocated the creation of 'ones of protection' for lawbreakers are responsible for contributing to the flood of illegal immigrants in this country today. These policies have created an even bigger immigration problem."

Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Former Chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee
U.S. House of Representative Judiciary Committee


"I realize that change is inevitable, and that my home town of my childhood, my own small neighborhood, is by now little more than a memory. But were we to open our southern border, a truly massive influx of people - not just Mexicans - would result. One thing I'd like to leave to my children is an America that will change gradually, and the knowledge that wherever within our borders they found themselves, the would recognize America; maybe not their home town, but still America."

Frederick Grab
Former California Deputy Attorney General


"Few things are more scary than people who rely on talking points, instead of weighing serious issues in a serious way."

Thomas Sowell
Nationally Syndicated Columnist


WHY THE NPG JOURNAL

The NPG Journal (offered free to all recipients) exists to give more widespread distribution to timely news stories and articles related to population, immigration, environmental and political issues that currently affect our daily life -- or have the potential to seriously impact our future. NPG President Donald Mann offer his personal insight and commentary on individual stories, especially those that challenge, confirm and/or complement our NPG Research and Forum Papers. The goal of the NPG Journal is to greatly expand NPG's educational mission. As NPG celebrates its 35th Anniversary we continue to emphasize the need for Americans to speak up on population issues and keep our nation - especially our elected leaders on the national, state and local level - focused on taking action to help resolve today's immigration crisis and work to halt, and eventually reverse America's out-of-control population growt

We welcome your feedback to articles posted on the NPG Journal and urge you to forward us the e-mail address of friends you think would like to receive a complimentary copy of the NPG Journal on a bi-weekly basis. Contact us at www.npg.org


ABOUT NPG
Negative Population Growth, Inc. (NPG) is a national nonprofit membership organization with over 30,000 members nationwide. It was founded in 1972 to educate the American public and political leaders about the devastating effects of overpopulation on our environment, resources, and standard of living. We believe that our nation is already vastly overpopulated in terms of the long-range carrying capacity of its resources and environme