There is a theory being floated among think tanks and intellectuals that millennials are not procreating enough to support our way of life and institutions for future generations and that immigration is needed to reverse the trend. But the left has a history of making unsubstantiated claims and then repeating them ad nauseum to the politically unsavvy until they become “fact.”
The questions isn’t whether we need immigrants to sustain our population but whether our government policies nurture and encourage families. The Dailymail reported that the United States has been named the worst country to parent in according to an Expert Market report. As one of the world’s most powerful nations, our failure to build a country in which to raise children in was followed only by Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada. Let that sink in.
Everyone knows that raising children is time-consuming and expensive. And it is so much harder today for older millennials who came of age when the economy collapsed in 2008 and who have experienced stagnant job growth, higher food and gas prices and exorbitant housing costs. They are strapped with crippling student debt and struggle to find a job that pays wages high enough for them to move out of their parents’ home.
What used to mark the milestones of adulthood—marriage, home ownership and children—are simply out of reach for most millennials. Add to this burden that every American must work a full quarter of a year just to pay their federal taxes, and it’s clear to see why they are not keen on procreating.
What the left fails to get is that the wall deplorable Americans want so badly isn’t just about keeping people out, it’s about letting American citizens build and dream again. If government just redirected the billions of dollars now spent on entitlement programs for illegal non-citizens, Americans could have and raise children.
Whether you like Trump or not, and many millennials do not, his populist policies may be just what younger people need in order to build strong families—the realistic hope of a job that pays a real living wage and repudiates government policies that eliminate unfair trade and supports working families.
In its current form, U.S. immigration policy can never prop up a declining population because it doesn’t discriminate between people who will be an asset to a working, thriving economy and those who will suck the system dry through entitlement programs and crime. Currently, both legal and illegal immigrants proportionately claim more welfare benefits than native citizens.
Rather than millennials taking up arms via Antifa or endless protesting, they should become involved in building a government that works for every American and that encourages the world’s brightest to become legal American citizens. It will take real work, but unlike most pundits, I actually believe in the ingenuity and fortitude of millennials. Reign well.