Immigration and Population Growth

Mike Allen at Axios:

Immigrants accounted for almost half of population growth in the U.S. from 2017 to 2018, according to new Census Bureau data, Axios' Stef Kight reports.

• Why it matters: It's a reminder of how rapidly the demographics of the country are changing — and how the bitter political fights over immigration aren't changing the broader trends.

Immigration could help mitigate the negative impact of falling birth rates.

• The U.S. is headed toward a large dependent population of children and retirees and a much smaller workforce, which would slow economic growth.

The big picture: 9% of the nation's counties grew due to immigration rather than more births than deaths — including counties that contain most of San Francisco, Houston and Boston, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

• More than half the population growth in D.C., Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and 7 other states was due to immigration.