{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://brooks.house.gov/media-center/news-releases/brooks-urges-reevaluation-mass-immigration-policies", "Brooks Urges Reevaluation of Mass Immigration Policies", "2016-09-21", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Mo Brooks", "B001274", "brooks.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013\u00a0This morning, Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) addressed the House floor to warn of the risks posed to the economy and national security should America continue the massive immigration wave of the last 40 years. \u00a0Brooks stated, \u201cAmerica\u2019s population has exploded to 321 million people due primarily to 62 million foreign born people plus their minor children.\u201d \u00a0Brooks continued,\u00a0\u201cConsistent with the above, the Census Bureau estimates that, within seven years, America\u2019s population will have the highest percentage of foreign born people since the Revolutionary War, adding another 74 million people to America\u2019s population over the next 45 years.\u00a0 Although Americans are supportive or tolerant of legal immigration, they are showing a growing unease in the face of this record-breaking immigration tidal wave that drives up welfare costs, overcrowds schools and hospitals, and increasingly subjects American citizens to growing crime and terrorist attack risk.\u201dBrooks concluded, \u201cAmerica must recognize our challenges and opportunities. \u00a0Hence, we must be much more selective in our immigration policies to ensure incoming immigrants are both self-sufficient and are able and willing to be properly absorbed into American society. \u00a0If we aren\u2019t, America\u2019s population will explode and America will lose its special place in history.\u201dor on the image above.\n\tText of Congressman Brooks\u2019 remarks:\n\tMr. Speaker, if not for the massive immigration wave of the last 40 years, America\u2019s population would have stabilized or had modest growth.[i]\u00a0 Instead, America\u2019s population has exploded to 321 million people due primarily to 62 million foreign born people plus their minor children.\u00a0 As an aside, illegal aliens are estimated to account for roughly 25% of that growth.[ii]\u00a0 Overall, America\u2019s foreign born population grew from 4.7% of total population in 1970 to over 13% of total population in 2015.\u00a0\n\tConsistent with the above, the Census Bureau estimates that, within seven years, America\u2019s population will have the highest percentage of foreign born people since the Revolutionary War, adding another 74 million people to America\u2019s population over the next 45 years.[iii]\u00a0 Although Americans are supportive or tolerant of legal immigration, they are showing a growing unease in the face of this record-breaking immigration tidal wave that drives up welfare costs, overcrowds schools and hospitals, and increasingly subjects American citizens to growing crime and terrorist attack risk.\u00a0\n\tConsistent with this growing concern, a recent poll found that 61% of Americans believe \u201ccontinued immigration into the country jeopardizes the United States.\u201d[iv]\u00a0 Notwithstanding America\u2019s concern, America\u2019s wealthy elite use their campaign contributions, political influence, and popular media to glorify legal and illegal immigration to ensure their continuance.\u00a0\n\tPuppet-like politicians expand visa programs, ignore laws that protect Americans from illegal aliens, and seek to legalize those illegal aliens who have broken into our home.\u00a0 Left-wing media, Democrats, and even some Republicans, brand as racist and small-minded the working class Americans who object to massive immigration and label concerned politicians as paranoid isolationists.\n\tWhat drives the craving by America\u2019s wealthy elite for more foreign workers?\u00a0 Follow the money.\u00a0 Throughout history, from lords to merchant princes, elite have acquired great wealth by exploiting cheap slave or low-cost foreign labor.\u00a0\n\tEven here, America\u2019s two great immigration waves depressed incomes of working citizens as large numbers of immigrants blew up the labor supply while also competing for and taking jobs from American citizens.[v]\n\tOn the plus side, back when America had seemingly unlimited natural resources and great spaces of open land,\u00a0 immigrants were self-sufficient, were not a financial burden on other Americans, and grew America\u2019s wealth and gross domestic product.\u00a0\n\tIn Ecclesiastes in the Bible, a very wise man, Solomon, once said, \u201cTo every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.\u201d[vi]\u00a0 Times have changed.\u00a0 America\u2019s natural resources are limited.\u00a0 We must import metals and energy to sustain our economy.\u00a0 Great spaces of usable land are long gone.\n\tFurther, technological advances and the intelligent machine age are dramatically changing labor markets.\u00a0 Rather than just more productive tools that must still have a human in the operational loop, intelligent machines produce value independently with minimal to no labor requirements.\u00a0 No longer is massive population growth essential to grow America\u2019s gross domestic product.\u00a0\n\tAmerica must recognize our challenges and opportunities.\u00a0 While over 5 billion foreigners want to migrate to America, in part because they earn only $10/day in their home countries,[vii] America has enough citizens and technology to assure our common defense and economic advancement.\u00a0\n\tEach foreigner imported consumes space and resources, neither of which is infinite. \u00a0Hence, we must be much more selective in our immigration policies to ensure incoming immigrants are both self-sufficient and are able and willing to be properly absorbed into American society. \u00a0If we aren\u2019t, America\u2019s population will explode and America will lose its special place in history.\n\t\u00a0\n\t###\n\t\u00a0\n\t\t  \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t[vi] King James Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://brooks.house.gov/media-center/news-releases/brooks-urges-reevaluation-mass-immigration-policies"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7181139662861824, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}