The idea of population decline is a new one for me. I always thought we were overpopulated and destroying the Earth. Did you know that the world’s population growth has slowed?  

According to the United Nations’ 2022 World Population Prospects:

In 2021, the average fertility of the world’s population stood at 2.3 births per woman over a lifetime, having fallen from about 5 births per woman in 1950. Global fertility is projected to decline further to 2.1 births per woman by 2050.

Replacement level fertility is 2.1 live births per woman; however, in the U.S., we are currently below replacement rates.

EFFECTS OF POPULATION DECLINE IN THE U.S.

Some of the side effects of a declining population include:

• Labor will become scarce.
• The economy will grow more slowly.
• Resources will be diverted to AI and robotics, but only 12% of American jobs can be automated.
• Occupations that are hardest to automate include healthcare, education, caregiving, and policing (approximately 30% of jobs).
• Another 16% of jobs, such as sales, customer service, and logistics, will be challenging to automate.
• Excess infrastructure, such as schools and universities, will abound.

POPULATION DECLINE FIXES FROM MAGA

The Trump Administration is so concerned that they are considering numerous tactics to raise the U.S. fertility rate. Some of the ideas include:

• A one-time $5,000 payment after a baby is born,
• “MAGA” accounts seeded with $1,000 in investments for newborns, and
• Classes that are designed to educate parents about menstrual cycles.

However, the Heritage Foundation has pointed out that South Korea and Hungary, which also have low birth rates, have attempted to throw money at the problem by providing subsidies to families with children, to no avail.

POPULATION DECLINE FIXES—THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Maybe I am dense, but even the Heritage Foundation has pointed out that “the fertility rate in the U.S. is not predicted to rise above replacement. Even so, the U.S. population is not expected to decline before 2100. But without a return to above replacement fertility, the U.S. will be dependent on immigration to prevent population contraction.”

POPULATION DECLINE FIXES IGNORED

Rather than trying to fix our immigration system, we are busy rounding up illegal immigrants. We have allocated $165 billion in appropriations in the Big Beautiful Bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make America Safe again, according to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

The problem here is twofold:

1. We heavily depend on undocumented workers to run our economy. The Center for Migration Policy estimated that 74.1% of illegal immigrants work. “The major occupations of employment were services in which 25.5% of unauthorized immigrants were employed; maintenance at 24.8%; management, business, science, and arts at 19.1%; production, transportation, and material moving at 18.3%; and sales and office occupations at 11.3%.”
2. To fill deportation quotas, we have gone past the criminal illegal aliens and are detaining many with little or no criminal history, except for having crossed the border without permission.

In Texas, we call this shooting yourself in the foot.

One of the more distressing stories I have heard recently was the one regarding a North Texas woman, twenty-two-year-old Ward Sakeik, who was held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for five months. According to Fox News, Ms. Sakeik is Palestinian but was born in Saudi Arabia, where there is no pathway to citizenship. Considered a stateless Palestinian, she has been in the United States since she was eight years old and checks in with immigration as required. She has a work permit.

Ms. Sakeik, a college graduate with no criminal history who owns a photography business, was picked up when she returned from her honeymoon in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Her husband is an American citizen. The government attempted to deport her twice.

 According to the Washington Post:

 Sakeik was held at the Broward Transitional Center in Florida for about three weeks, then transferred to El Valle Detention Center in Texas — which she described as “the warehouses in the rodeo, where they keep the chicken and the horses.”

 She was crammed into a dusty, dirty and windowless room with nearly 100 women, who were allowed outside for one hour a day. Some days, officers offered detainees $1,000 to sign their deportation orders, Sakeik said.

 Apparently, President Trump is realizing we depend on these workers because he is now floating plans to allow farmers in Iowa to vouch for law-abiding migrant farmworkers who could face deportation, so they could remain in the country.

Someone help me here, but if we are really only rounding up criminals, why is he throwing out this idea?

LAST THOUGHTS ON POPULATION DECLINE

Allowing these individuals, who are vital to our economy, a pathway to citizenship makes sense and is certainly cheaper than sending them to Sudan or housing them in Alligator Alcatraz. Besides, it’s the right thing to do.

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