On Immigration, Trump Needs to Focus on the Numbers

... But for all the talk about the border, the biggest issue when it comes to immigration is not welfare or illegal immigration per se; it is the total number of immigrants settling in the country, legally or illegally. While Democrats focus on amnesty, business associations endlessly push for ever more guest workers — and the media happily support both. But the president should always bring the discussion back to the numbers. Both the national interest and his political future depend on it...

The latest data indicate that there are about 45 million legal and illegal immigrants — roughly 34 million of whom are legal. About l.7 million new legal and illegal immigrants settle in the country each year. The total number of immigrants (legal and illegal) in the country has doubled since 1990, tripled since 1980, and quadrupled since 1970. As a share of the population, about one in seven U.S. residents is now a legal or illegal immigrant — the highest percentage in 107 years. The Census Bureau projects the immigrant share will surpass the highest level ever in America history in eight years if we choose to continue current policy.

Pew Research has estimated that since 1965 (when the law was liberalized) immigration has added 72 million people to the U.S. population. That’s post-1965 immigrants and their progeny. An analysis of the latest Census Bureau projections indicates that future immigration will add another 75 million by 2060. That means that future immigrants and their descendants will add a population the size of France in just four decades....

They also sense that immigration is remaking the political balance by adding millions of new voters who are voting Democratic by about 2 to 1....

For the sake of the country and his reelection, the people who voted for Trump need to be heard on immigration....