Between 1776-1965, annual immigration averaged 250,000 people per year. Congress changed the law in 1965 and sent the numbers skyrocketing.
The result of chain migration is tens of millions of people in the world who tend to think they are in line. Instead of waiting, they come illegally.
Chain migration is responsible for almost all long-term population growth since 1972 (when native-born Americans started having children at replacement levels).
In the early 1970's, American families reduced their fertility rates in response to calls for a more sustainable future for their children and grand children. Their efforts were undercut by Congress' immigration policies.
Immigration as a percentage of the population is also outpacing traditional numbers, due in large part to chain migration.
- 14.8 percent of the U.S. population was foreign-born in 1890 - the highest in our history;
- 14.7 percent was foreign-born in 1910;
- 4.7 percent was foreign-born in 1970;
- 12.6 was foreign-born in 2007;
- Unless Congress changes the law, the 1890 record will be surpassed around 2023, reaching 19 percent around 2050.
Only 11.2 percent of immigrants (124,291 in 2008) initiate their own immigration. The vast majority of immigrants are nominated by U.S. residents (chain migration) or U.S. employers (importing new workers - most of whom have only basic skills - less than 10,000 "Genius" or "O" visas are issued annually).
-From "Immigrants in the United States, 2007: A Profile of America's Foreign Born Population" by Steve Camarota of CIS; and "U.S. Population Projections 2005 - 2050" by Jeffrey Passel and D'Vera Cohn of the Pew Hispanic Center.
