Dennis RomeroYou thought A Day Without A Mexican was just a movie. But more and more, the wildest dreams of anti-illegal-immigration activists are coming true.
California's population growth is coming to a halt, says a new USC study (PDF), and much of that is the result of decreasing immigration.
At the same time, the Pew Hispanic Center says, “The largest wave of immigration in history from a single country to the United States has come to a standstill.” Yay! said the racists. But …
… don't come whining to us when:
-Your fine German automobiles create a traffic jam on Rodeo Drive because they've been left unattended with no one to park them.
-Your lawns become verdant, umkempt jungles. You think the Japanese or, gasp, white teens, are going to make a return to the yard work industry? Yeah, right.
-Your hamburgers go un-flipped, your burritos go unfolded, your sushi goes un-rolled, and your dishes go unwashed.
-Professional soccer games are attended by three people.
-Plump white women walk down the street in utter silence.
You get the picture.
Credit: Chris Blakeley
According to a summary of the USC Price School of Public Policy report:
… Growth among the main working age population ages 25 to 64 is expected to slow, and virtually all the projected growth, or 98 percent, is comprised of native-born children of immigrants, or second generation immigrants.
Feel better now, Minutemen?
USC says the Golden State won't hit 50 million residents until 2046, pushing back a 2007 projection that this landmark would be reached by 2032. (Our population today is 37 million-plus).
Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning at USC, seems to suggest that this could get the cost of immigration off our backs:
This is surely good news for local governments and taxpayers who are struggling to keep up with the costs of growth.
But what about the benefits of immigration (including billions in taxes they pay)?
In fact, the study seems to ask, who will take care of all the retiring baby boomers? The number of seniors ages 65 and older will quadruple in California in the next 20 years, the report states. There aren't that many Filipina nurses in California. (We kid. Sort of).
We're becoming Florida. Del Boca Vista (Phase II), here we come …
Meanwhile, Pew says “the net migration flow from Mexico to the United States has stopped–and may have reversed … “
Talk about your self-deportation.
From 2005 to 2010 1.4 million Mexican came to America. Orale! But 1.4 million Mexicans went back to Mexico. Ay Dios mio.
Pew:
The standstill appears to be the result of many factors, including the weakened U.S. job and housing construction markets, heightened border enforcement, a rise in deportations, the growing dangers associated with illegal border crossings, the long-term decline in Mexico's birth rates and changing economic conditions in Mexico.
So rejoice, immigrant-bashers. And stop making an issue of it. Unless you're ready to admit that work's not getting done around here.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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