Elected Officials Across U.S. See Illegal Immigration As 'Very Serious' Problem

Oct 05, 05:19 PM

Current Headlines: To: POLITICAL EDITORS

Contact: Dave Simcox of Negative Population Growth, +1-703-370- 9510, npg@npg.org

NATIONAL SURVEY SAMPLES NON-FEDERAL ELECTED LEADERS

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A nationwide survey of thousands of local and state leaders conducted by Negative Population Growth found that almost 90% of elected officials rated Americas current illegal immigration problem as Very Serious or Somewhat Serious. In addition, 54% of respondents reported that illegal immigration is negatively impacting or somewhat impacting the jurisdiction they represent. The survey was mailed this summer to 12,000 current state legislators, county officials, mayors and city council members.

In releasing the survey results NPG President Don Mann noted that while only Congress can set Americas immigration policy, state, county and city leaders must deal directly with the costs of illegal immigrants who overburden local schools and social services.

Mann welcomed the survey findings by stating, These survey results clearly show that all of us fighting todays tidal wave of illegal immigration and explosive population growth have a strong base of support among those in position to put pressure on Congress to tackle Americas immigration crisis before it does even more economic, social and environmental damage.

Other survey findings on immigration and population questions include:

-- More than 70% of those polled indicated they were very concerned or

somewhat concerned that current population growth is putting

increased financial pressure on the cities and communities they

represent.

-- When asked what areas most concern them when it comes to the

environmental impact of population growth in their jurisdiction, the

three most common answers were: increased demands on limited water

supplies, the loss of open space, and increased air and water

pollution.

-- Approximately half of the elected leaders -- especially state

legislators -- reported they had sponsored legislation aimed at

protecting threatened farms, wetlands and forests from encroaching

development.

Mann concluded, This survey is a prelude to NPGs efforts to get our nations leaders to join us in lobbying Congress to create a new U.S. Commission on Population Growth that will help steer our nation toward a sensible, livable and sustainable future.

Negative Population Growth is a national nonprofit organization, founded in 1972 that has served as a network of tens of thousands of citizens who work together to educate the American public and political leaders about the catastrophic effects of overpopulation on our environment and quality of life.

SOURCE Negative Population Growth

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