Immigration from China, India Surpasses Mexico: What Happens After They Arrive?

By Joe Guzzardi
May 6, 2015

An analysis of the Census Bureau’s American Survey covering years 2000-2013 found that China and India sent more immigrants to the U.S. than Mexico. Their totals, respectively, are China 147,000; India, 129,000, and Mexico, 125,000. The legal immigrants, mostly from China and India, will eventually petition their families from abroad, and gradually add to their representation among the U.S. foreign-born.

Since 2000, immigration analysts have warned that legal immigration contributes as much if not more to overpopulation, economic stagnation and demographic change as unlawful immigration. Yet on Capitol Hill, the mantra among many congressional leaders is that while they want the border with Mexico secured, they unwaveringly support more legal immigration.

For the past 15 years, the median number of immigrants has exceed one million annually. The number of visa categories that offer permanent residency and the regulations that govern them have expanded and been liberalized. So much immigration over such a short time without any checks has hurt certain groups of American citizens, mostly U.S. students and IT workers. About one million international students attend American universities with Chinese enrollment soaring more than 20 percent in recent years.

Ironically, the huge influx of Chinese nationals attending California’s premier colleges has displaced Asian-Americans. International students pay nearly twice the tuition as in-state students so the cash-strapped universities give them preference despite the fact that many are land grant schools, built and supported by state taxpayers to which international students have not contributed. A Bloomberg Business story reported that UC San Diego admits fewer California residents and instead accepts a growing number of international applicants. One rejected UCSD student was a Korean-American who, despite his 4.0 grade average and high SAT scores, was also turned away at four other UC campuses.

After graduation, many international students remain in the U.S. to compete with Americans in a tightening job market. Instead of Congress passing an entry/exit visa program that would encourage students to return home, visitors are allowed to change immigration status while still in the U.S., a practice that should be cancelled.

Applying to change immigration status is an option for those who enter the U.S. on so called non-immigrant visas including IT workers, predominantly from India, who come on the controversial H-1B. Department of Homeland Security data shows that through 2010, about 3.5 million H-1B visa holders (and the related L visa holders) worked in the U.S.  The aggregate estimated dollar losses suffered by the American middle class that those visa holders displaced is $10 trillion, a huge transfer of wealth to major Silicon Valley IT firms and their executives.

There’s a fixed number of university seats for incoming college freshman; therefore, increasing the applicants’ pool hurts someone’s admission chances. In recent years, that someone has been American high school kids. The same is true in the job market. Importing foreign labor in a shrinking economy makes finding employment and keeping a job tougher for American workers.

Whenever the Census Bureau releases its population reports, Americans should ask the reasonable question about what the new arrivals do once they get here. Does their presence serve Americans’ best interests? Adding one million legal immigrants year after year and issuing millions of student visas has had severe consequences—lost education and job opportunities—and should be a wake-up call for Americans rightly concerned about their future. 

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Joe Guzzardi is a Californians for Population Stabilization Senior Writing Fellow. Contact him at [email protected]