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SC

Steven Camarota

Series

Parsing Immigration Policy6 episodes

Recent Episodes

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

The Size and Growth of the Immigrant Population in the U.S.

The starting point of any conversation about immigration should be the numbers. This week’s episode of the Center for Immigration Studies podcast highlights a recent report co-authored by Steven Camarota, the Center’s director of research, which examines the number and share of the foreign-born in the United States. The total foreign-born population, encompassing both legal and illegal immigrants, has soared to a record high of 51.4 million as of February 2024, marking a monumental increase of 6.4 million since President Biden assumed office. This increase has driven the foreign-born share to an unprecedented 15.5% of the population, eclipsing historical benchmarks like that seen in 1910 and reaching a level that the Census Bureau had estimated the country would not reach until 2039. Camarota discusses the impact of policy decisions on immigration trends, noting, “This level of growth over such a short period of time was clearly caused by policy changes.”
Host:
Mark Krikorian
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies

November 2022

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

Immigration: The Numbers Matter

Summary The foreign-born are set to become a larger share of the population than at any time in U.S. history. It is time for a national conversation on what this means for our schools, infrastructure, natural environment, healthcare system, and labor market. Steven Camarota, the Center’s director of research sits down with John Wahala, the Center’s assistant director, to talk about his recent analysis of government data that shows that the total immigrant population (legal and illegal) is almost 48 million, a record high in American history and an estimated 2.9 increase since President Biden was sworn into office. About one-quarter of the foreign-born population are in the country illegally. What exactly does the data reveal? These enormous numbers also mean a growing impact on the country. Camarota ponders the country’s absorption capacity while he outlines today’s labor market crisis among the working-age who are without a college degree and the social problems connected to non–work.
Host:
John Wahala
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies

May 2022

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

Would Cutting Less-Skilled Wages Through Immigration Reduce Inflation?

View Podcast Archive Summary Today on Parsing Immigration Policy, the Center responds to the argument by many supporters of high levels of immigration that an expansion of immigration would reduce inflation, which is close to a 40-year high. They argue that admitting more foreign workers to fill jobs would decrease wages and lower consumer prices. The Center’s analysis shows that the foreign workers would be filling jobs typically performed by the less-educated, such as food service, healthcare support, hospitality, and trucking. Reducing wages for the less-educated is not an effective means of controlling inflation because such workers earn relatively little and as a result account for only a modest share of economic output. Dr. Steven Camarota, the Center’s director of research, voices concern for the impact such a plan would have on the economic prospects of working-class Americans who have seen little to no wage growth for decades.
Host:
Mark Krikorian
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies

March 2022

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

Illegal Immigrant Population Increases More Than 1 Million in Last Year

Summary This week’s episode of the Center for Immigration Studies’ weekly podcast highlights a new report, which provides an estimate of the illegal immigrant population. The analysis finds that the illegal immigrant population increased 1.1 million for the year starting January 2021, when Biden took office. The Center’s preliminary population estimate for February 2022 is 11.5 million. Dr. Steven Camarota, the Center’s director of research and the report’s lead author, discusses the importance of this new estimate. Until this analysis was published, the latest numbers available were for 2018. He explains the various ways the population can be counted and how the dips and increases in the population numbers can be explained by the policies governing immigration at the particular times. Camarota also weighs in on past reports that estimated the population to be vastly larger than the 11 million typically referenced.
Host:
Mark Krikorian
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies

October 2021

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

Are Immigrants Less Willing to Report Crime?

Summary One of the most frequently cited justifications for sanctuary policies is the claim that immigrants are less willing to report victimization to authorities. A report was released by the Center for Immigration Studies casts doubt on this claim, using the latest data from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and host of Parsing Immigration Policy, moderates a rebroadcast of the Center's recent panel discussing the report. Two of the study's co-authors participated in the panel, Center researchers Jessica Vaughan and Steven Camarota. They were joined by Capt. Keith Harmon of the Collier County, Fla. Sheriff’s Department, which has long experience with ICE's 287(g) program. Host Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Host:
Mark Krikorian
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies

June 2021

Parsing Immigration Policy
Parsing Immigration Policy

Cash-Assistance Programs Benefiting Illegal Immigrants

Summary The nation’s two largest cash assistance programs for low income workers redistribute taxpayer funds from legal workers to illegal immigrants. This week, Dr. Steven Camarota, the Center’s director of research, and Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and host of Parsing Immigration Policy, discuss the billions of dollars of cash payments from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) sent to illegal immigrants who have no income tax liability and the impact the policies allowing this has on immigration law. Sending cash payments to illegal immigrants through the tax system shows just how unserious the government is about controlling immigration. In his Concluding Commentary, Mark Krikorian highlighted the anachronistic nature of our immigration system, as "an artifact of post-World War II, early Cold-War politics", that was incorporated into U.S. law in 1980 in the Refugee Act.
Host:
Mark Krikorian
Organization
Center for Immigration Studies