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EU: New Rules for Booting Illegal Aliens
Mexican Consulate: A Busy Place


COMMENTARY: by NPG President Donald Mann

For all of our differences, Americans love to celebrate the Fourth of July.

After a weekend of patriotic festivities that commemorated our nation's 232nd birthday, we can all take great pride in our nation.

When you realize how America's forbearers, always with an eye to the future, risked and sacrificed so much to build our nation, you have to wonder why so many of our citizens are so short-sighted about what kind of country we will leave to future generations.

For more than three decades Negative Population Growth has played an important role in educating all Americans - especially our young people - about the totally different world they will live in if we fail to halt and reverse the damaging "free-for-all" population and immigration policies that rule our nation today.

Today's youth are our future. They should have the greatest concerns about what our nation will look like in 30, 40 or 50 years. However, they must be constantly presented with intelligible facts, charts and other comprehensible research that clearly define our country's population and immigration crises and identify solutions we can take today to turn things around before it is too late.

That is why here at NPG we work so diligently to get our message out to countless students and citizens every month. Our scholarship competition invites students to research the population and immigration issues and expand their knowledge. Our National Student Poster Contest taps into their creativity to educate more Americans about the dangers of population growth. And the increasing volume of inquires to our website by those doing research on population issues is a sign that we are constantly building a generation of concerned citizens who can take up the banner of leadership in their schools and communities on this issue.

The growing number of Americans rallying around the need to reverse today's global warming is a start. But, as important as it is, that issue is only one part of the disastrous population problems that await us if our nation fails to unite to establish a National Population Policy that will create a more secure future and better quality of life for all.

Back on July 4, 1776, our founding fathers had a vision to create a prosperous and bountiful country. All of us at NPG, including our thousands of friends and supporters, share that goal.


MEXICAN CONSULATE: A BUSY PLACE

When South Carolina legislators acted earlier this year to adopt a broad and tough illegal immigration reform package, they created a tidal wave of new work for the closest Mexican Consulate in Raleigh, N.C.

According to a recent article in The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina), "Mexicans living in the Carolinas have been scrambling for documents because of concern over stricter identification requirements for work, travel or a possible quick return home."

According to the article's author, Schuyler Kropf, "The Raleigh consulate is the third-fastest growing of the 48 Mexican consulates in the U.S".with more than 15,000 passports issued since January. Only the New York and Philadelphia offices are growing faster." Kropf also notes that the office serves an "estimated 600,000 Mexicans, most of whom live in North Carolina."

Mexicans in the U.S. use their consulates to acquire passports for travel and to record birth registrations that make their U.S. born children dual citizens of both the U.S. and Mexico. They also need valid I.D. for renewing drivers' licenses and to work.

The workload on the Consulate for passports alone is more than five times what it was a year ago. In commenting on the extra activity, Diana Salazar of the Latinos Association of Charleston is quoted as stating, "I think people are just more concerned because they don't know how far the governor and the state of South Carolina is (sic) going to push this."

We can only hope that the South Carolina legislature pushes even harder to make life uncomfortable for anyone illegally living in, or holding a job, in the state. Perhaps their colleagues in North Carolina will follow their lead. When you realize that the combined 2000 population of both NC and SC totaled a bit more than 12 million it is quite surprising that almost 5% of their population still has such strong ties to Mexico. Click on the link above for the full story.


EUROPEAN UNION'S NEW RULES FOR EXPELLING ILLEGAL ALIENS

The European Parliament took action last month to better confront one of its growing problems - illegal aliens who won't go home. The Associated Press reports that the new ideas contain measures for long detention periods and create a common policy to replace the differing practices currently being carried out by the 27 nation-bloc.

According to the AP, "Under the new guidelines, already approved by EU governments, illegal aliens can be held in specialized detention centers - not jails - for up to 18 months before being expelled. But EU countries must provide them basic rights, including access to free legal advice, and unaccompanied children or families with children should be held only as a last resort."

To facilitate their leaving the EU, the new policy also gives illegals the opportunity to leave voluntarily within 30 days.

In commenting on the new law, the AP quoted German Christian Democrat Manfred Weber, who steered the new measure through Parliament, as stating, "Europe has made it clear that it is not tolerating any form of illegal status."

Estimates are that there could be up to 8 million illegal aliens in Europe, compared to 14 to 20 million in the United States. The majority of illegals in Europe come from North Africa, former Soviet countries and the Balkans.

NPG comment: It is a sad reflection on America's politics that our single nation cannot put together responsible policies to deal with the horde of illegal aliens who reside within our borders, yet the EU's 27 nations can rally behind policies that so evidently threaten their common future. Click on the above for the full story.


POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION NEWS NOTES

7 BILLION AND COUNTING...

Can you imagine adding another 300 million people (nearly the current population of the entire United States) to our world in less than 4 years? According to new government projections, the world's population will do just that - reaching 7 billion people in 2012, up from 6.7 billion in the world today.

Shockingly, world population will have grown by one billion in only 13 years (world population surpassed 6 billion in 1999). In comparison, world population hit one billion in 1800 and it took 130 years to reach 2 billion.


NEW PAUL EHRLICH BOOK

Paul Ehrlich stands high in the ranks of those who helped launch the environmental movement and he is still making positive contributions with a new book, The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment.

Along with his wife, Anne, herself a noted scientist, Professor Ehrlich examines today's growing crises, especially the food crisis, that reaffirm how soaring population growth is putting the survival of civilization at risk. Just as he forecast in his seminal book, The Population Bomb, which was published 40 years ago, the new book ties together the many pieces that make up the environmental, social and humanitarian crises we face today. The Ehrlichs bring us to the startling realization that the interrelated issues of food, energy, climate, toxic chemicals, and ecosystems are more than just a passing crisis.

The book is available at www.islandpress.org or www.dominantanimal.org.


FINAL JEOPARDY...

A recent Jeopardy show had the following as a Final Jeopardy question:

"With about 5 people per square mile, it is the most sparsely populated U.S. state in the lower 48."

Two contestants got it wrong. Do you know the answer?

(Find answer at end of Quotable Section)


GAS STATION FOR EVERY 2,500 PEOPLE

It's not that America doesn't have any gas - it's just that it costs too much. But that's the price Americans will have to pay today and for many years to come as too many people compete for limited resources. The U.S. Census Bureau has recently released their report on County Business Patterns: 2006 that shows America has 116,855 gas stations which employ more than 910,000 people. Let's hope many of these stations can move away from selling gasoline and diesel and develop more environmentally-sound alternatives. Sadly, almost everyone fails to realize that what we truly need, above all, is not more supply, but LESS DEMAND for these, and many other, finite resources. And, here at NPG, we know this can only be accomplished by reducing U.S. and world population to a smaller, truly sustainable level.


NPG NOTES

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Our first NPG National Student Poster Contest is over and the winners have been announced and notified. Congratulations to all 12 very talented students who truly deserve monetary prizes of $3,500 and $1,000 by creating inspiring posters which very much captured our theme of "Too Many People!" Per the rules of the contest, the prize money is split between the student and his/her school. The list of winners, their schools, as well as their creative artwork is on display at our website www.npg.org.

Of course, words of thanks are always in order and we were very pleased to receive a heartwarming note from Tiffany Everett of Auburn, AL, who won the $3,500 first prize in the Grade 11-12 category with a dynamic illustration dominated by Uncle Sam. In fact, Tiffany proved to be a "double" winner because her principal, Dr. Cathy Long, and Dennis Veronese, Assistant Superintendent and Chief Financial Officer, waived the school's claim to their half of the prize money and insisted that it go toward her tuition at the Savannah School of Art which she will attend this fall. In all, it seems that our contest hit at the perfect time in Tiffany's life as she wrote: "You see, I was actually about $3,000 short of being able to afford freshman year of college. Now, thanks to NPG, an incredible art teacher, a generous principal, and you, I am attending the first year of my dream school with NO WORRIES! My family and I are ever grateful."

And just as those of us here at NPG appreciated the "thank you" notes from the students and teachers who were honored as winners, we want to personally extend our thanks to all of our generous donors who understand the benefits of taking today's population challenge to students across the country and getting them involved in thinking about this critical issue which will have a great impact on their future quality of life.


QUOTABLE

"The unhappy reality is that on the issue of illegal immigration you can barely tell John McCain and Obama Barak apart."

The Washington Times Editorial, 7/2/08


"I believe that our laws must be obeyed and respected by those who wish to live here. That is why enforcement must be a key cornerstone of any effort to reform immigration. We are now in a crisis where American taxpayers are saddled with the burden of millions who are here illegally, and if we are not able to get this crisis under control, long-term reforms will be even more difficult."

U.S. Congressman Ron Lewis (R., KY)
Letter to NPG


"The failure of the U.S. transportation network to meet the needs of a growing population and economy is already having an impact on everything from safety to the environment, from quality of life to economic growth. We must immediately reform the approach we take for funding, planning, and building infrastructure so that we can keep people and goods moving across the country and around the world."

Tom Donohue
President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce


"So, if we had drilled everywhere offshore 25 years ago, we would have imported less in the intervening years and would be well on the way to depleting the resource, just as we have done with Prudhoe Bay oil. We would have reduced our vulnerability to disruption at that time at the cost of making us more vulnerable to disruption at every point after the field's depletion. We would have burned our oil when it was cheap, which would have left us with less oil as the world passes its production peak. So, those of us who put that oil off-limits 25 years ago did us a favor

Those who think faster depletion of a finite resource is the road to energy independence are deluded...."

Carl Henn, Rockville, MD
Letter to the Editor, The Washington Times


Final Jeopardy answer: Wyoming. (The popular wrong answer was Montana).


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WHY THE NPG JOURNAL?

The NPG Journal (offered free to all recipients) exists to give more widespread distribution to timely news stories and articles related to population, immigration, environmental and political issues that currently affect our daily life -- or have the potential to seriously impact our futur

We realize not all news stories covering population issues will reflect NPG policies and goals. One of our main purposes in creating the NPG Journal is to expose these items to a wider audience, and to draw attention to the fact that so many articles speak to immigration and population issues but often fail to address the central cause of many problems - TOO MANY PEOPLE

Ultimately, NPG would like to see writers at all levels make the obvious (to us, at least) connection between environmental and resource problems and the growing umber of people in both the United States and the world. Unfortunately, most do not. To that end, we comment as necessary to help our readers see those links in hopes they will continue to speak out on what we deem to be the most pressing issue of our time - population size and growth.

NPG President Donald Mann offers his personal insight and commentary on individual stories, especially those that challenge, confirm and/or complement our NPG Research and Forum Papers. The goal of the NPG Journal is to greatly expand NPG's educational mission. As NPG celebrates its 35th Anniversary we continue to emphasize the need for Americans to speak up on population issues and keep our nation -- especially our elected leaders on the national, state and local level - focused on taking action to help resolve today's immigration crisis and work to halt, and eventually reverse America's out-of-control population grow

We welcome your feedback to articles posted on the NPG Journal and urge you to forward us the e-mail address of friends you think would like to receive a complimentary copy of the NPG Journal on a bi-weekly basis. Contact us at www.npg.org


ABOUT NPG

Negative Population Growth, Inc. (NPG) is a national nonprofit membership organization with over 30,000 members nationwide. It was founded in 1972 to educate the American public and political leaders about the devastating effects of overpopulation on our environment, resources, and standard of living. We believe that our nation is already vastly overpopulated in terms of the long-range carrying capacity of its resources and environme





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