Legal immigration will decline by 30 percent next year due to Trump policies, report projects


The Trump administration's efforts to curb immigration look like they're working, The New York Times reports.
A report released Monday by the National Foundation for American Policy projects policies like Trump's recently-expanded travel ban or the public charge rule preventing immigrants who may rely on welfare assistance from entering the country will alter legal immigration to the U.S. for quite some time. But change may also be noticeable rather quickly. 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.
That could have long-term consequences for U.S. economic growth, which NFAP says will slow because the average annual growth rate of the U.S. labor force will also sputter as a result of the immigration decline. The report says the rate will slow somewhere between 35 percent and 59 percent going forward 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 report reads. Read more from The New York Times and view the full report.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Art Review: Hilma af Klint's What Stands Behind the Flowers
Feature Museum of Modern Art, New York City, through Sept. 27
-
Not just a number: how aging rates vary by country
The explainer Inequality is a key factor
-
'There will be a market incentive to build wind and solar anyway'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Deportations: The growing backlash
Feature New poll numbers show declining support for Trump's deportation crackdown
-
Trump administration releases MLK files
Speed Read Newly released documents on the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not hold any new revelations, King historians said
-
Are we facing a summer of riots?
Today's Big Question Anti-immigrant unrest in Essex has sparked fears of a summer of disorder
-
Japan's prime minister feels pressure after election losses
Speed Read Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to remain in office
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation