Bill Clinton Says Low Birth Rate Means US Needs Migrants

Former President Bill Clinton has suggesting that in order to grow the economy, the United States requires more migrants to counterbalance the nation’s historically low birth rate.
“America is not having enough babies to keep our populations up, so we need immigrants that have been vetted to do work,” Clinton said Sunday at a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris in Fort Valley, Georgia.
Clinton reiterated his stance at a separate event in Columbus, Georgia, where he said: “We got the lowest birth rate we’ve had in well over 100 years. We’re not at replacement level, which means we got to have somebody come here if we want to keep growing the economy.”
The U.S. birth rate has been steadily declining for years, hitting a record low in 2023. According to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, the fertility rate dropped another 3 percent last year, reaching 54.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. Just under 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2023, 76,000 fewer than the year before.
The total fertility rate in 2023 remained below replacement—the level at which a given generation can exactly replace itself (2,100 births per 1,000 women). The rate has generally been below replacement since 1971 and consistently below replacement since 2007.
Clinton’s position reflects a broader sentiment among Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who in 2022 argued that migrants are essential to filling the workforce gaps left by declining birth rates. Schumer said that “the only way we’re going to have a great future in America is if we welcome and embrace immigrants.”
Birth and fertility rates are declining globally.
Professor Stein Emil Vollset of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), lead author of a study that concluded “the world is approaching a low-fertility future,” said in an article in The Lancet that this is not necessarily a negative.
“In many ways, tumbling fertility rates are a success story, reflecting not only better, easily available contraception, but also many women choosing to delay or have fewer children, as well as more opportunities for education and employment,” Vollset said.
Harris and presidential opponent Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, have said they want to expand the child tax credit, which would it more affordable for parents to raise children.
Stopping illegal immigration into the U.S. is one of the main issues in the Trump-Vance campaign. Trump has vowed to conduct mass deportation if he is reelected.
Trump said at a press conference in Los Angeles that the work would start in Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado, reiterating claims of a Venezuelan gang takeover in Aurora as well as unfounded accusations that Haitian migrants in Springfield have been eating residents’ pets.
Last month, he said he would go further than targeting illegal immigrants and would deport the 1 million immigrants who reside legally in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status.