Population Growth Still Isn’t a Problem. Anti-Immigrant Groups Still Think It Is.

When Stanford University biologist Paul Ehrlich published The Population Bomb in 1968, he predicted that the 1970s would see an unavoidable period of widespread famine and death. That decade—and many since—have proven Ehrlich wrong. But that didn’t stop him from warning of another impending catastrophe in a Sunday 60 Minutes appearance, claiming that “the next few decades will be the end of the kind of civilization we’re used to.”

That line has long been popular among the environmentalist left, despite all evidence to the contrary. Anti-immigrant groups and politicians keep echoing Ehrlich’s worldview too. They say Western countries should reduce the number of immigrants they accept or else face the environmental degradation and increased pollution that migrants from poorer countries will inevitably bring.

Two notable environmental lawsuits have leaned into that logic. In August, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform (MCIR) v. Department of Homeland Security could proceed. Filed by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the suit claimed the Biden administration had violated the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 by failing to conduct environmental analyses before ending several of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich made the same argument in an April 2021 suit against the Biden administration. “Population growth has significant environmental impacts,” said a press release on the lawsuit, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “and other federal officials did not provide environmental impact statements or environmental assessments when DHS abruptly halted ongoing border wall construction” and began allowing more migrants to enter the country by ending Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.

These ideas have found supporters in Congress as well. In March 2021, Reps. Bruce Westerman (R–Ark.) and Paul Gosar (R–Ariz.) claimed in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that “decreasing illegal crossings protects our border environment.” They cited research from CIS fellows to build their case.

Ehrlich’s worldview sits at the core of CIS and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), two organizations at the forefront of anti-immigrant environmentalism. Both push for drastic reductions in legal and illegal migration alike, often citing worries about overdevelopment and pollution. They were founded by John Ta