Immigrants help gird USA’s sluggish population growth

Births not as robust; 8 states tally net loss

The U.S. population this year showed the slowest growth since the Great Depression, and would have been even slower had it not been for an increase in immigrants, according to the 2016 U.S. Census Bureau report.

Nationally, the U.S. population grew only by 0.7% to 323.1 million. That slowdown is due to an increase in deaths among Baby Boomers and a drop in births among younger generations, resulting in eight states losing overall population during the year.

The only saving grace for many communities, especially in the Northeast, was immigration. In 34 states, international arrivals outpaced domestic arrivals (people who move from one state to another). Three states — Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — would have lost population if not for international arrivals. New York’s loss of 1,894 people could have been staggering without the 118,478 foreigners who moved to the state.

Overall, the nearly 1 million immigrants who entered the country in 2016 were down from previous years, but still made up 45% of the nation’s population growth. That figure could drop considerably under Presidentelect Donald Trump, who vowed to slow down legal and illegal immigration under his administration starting next month.

“The population is aging, the Baby Boomers are aging, but international migration has been fairly consistent,” said Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. programs at the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute. “If we really did curtail immigration substantially, that would really slow population growth quite a bit.”

The rise in the immigrant population came almost entirely through legal immigration. The federal government grants about 1 million green cards a year, and the immigrant population in the U.S. grew by nearly 1 million, according to the Census data.

Illinois lost more people than any other state (37,508), and West Virginia saw the biggest percentage drop (-0.54%). Other states losing population: Connecticut, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wyoming.