Legal immigration will decline by 30 percent next year due to Trump policies, report projects
The Trump administration implemented the new public charge rule yesterday and seeks to reduce legal immigration. It appears that the administration’s efforts to curb legal immigration are working, The New York Times reports.
A report released yesterday by the National Foundation for American Policy projects that policies like the recently-expanded travel ban and the public charge rule will alter legal immigration to the United States. Legal immigration had already declined by 11 percent between the 2016 and 2018 fiscal years, and the NFAP report predicts the decline will reach 30 percent by 2021.
Here is the executive summary of the NFAP report:
“Trump administration policies are projected to reduce the annual level of legal immigration to the United States by 30%, resulting in 350,000 fewer legal immigrants receiving permanent residence each year compared to the FY 2016 level of 1,183,505, according to a National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis. NFAP projects in the long term that the average annual U.S. labor force growth, a key component of economic growth, will be between 35% and 59% lower in America as a result of Trump administration immigration policies, if the policies remain in place. The significant decline in the annual level of legal immigration means lower long-term economic growth may be Donald Trump’s most lasting economic legacy.
The reduction in legal immigration will take place without any change in the law by Congress but as a result of policies that include the public charge rule, the travel ban and lower admission of refugees. Depending on implementation, the decline in legal immigration may be greater than 30%. Immigrant visas issued by U.S. consular officers already have declined by 25% between FY 2016 and FY 2019, and that is before the public charge rule went into effect. Fewer people will have the opportunity to live and work in the United States. Many American citizens will not be allowed to live in the United States with their spouse, child or parent, despite U.S. immigration law as interpreted for decades.”
KJ