population and environment

> Don't more Canadians immigrate to the US every year than Mexicans? Why is
> "immigrant" synonymous with "Mexican" in the rhetoric about US borders?
> 
> Andrew Austin
> Knoxville, TN


1)
No, it's not true that more Canadians immigrate to the U.S. every year
than Mexicans.

2)
Mexican immigrants constitute the largest illegal group of immigrants, a
fact which can be used for various purposes, but is a fact nonetheless.
Of course sharing a long land border and the fact of the U.S. seizure 
of a huge chunk of Mexican territory (and people) in 1848 makes the
immigration/emigration issue one of great salience for U.S.-Mexico
relations, aside from any ideological predisposition.

3)
With the U.S. fertility rate approaching the replacement level otherwise,
immigration has become the most important cause of population increase,
and is exacerbated by the higher fertility level of Mexican immigrants.  

4)
Echoing what I said in the last post, immigrants with higher income levels
(higher C) from places other than Mexico undoubtedly place a greater
strain on the environment, and so it is indeed wrong in that sense to
focus on Mexican immigration.  

RH