As Supreme Court expands Trump's immigration power, experts warn of steeper U.S. population decline

President Trump holds up a bill funding immigration enforcement after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Washington. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP hide caption toggle caption Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Even before the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that President Trump has broad power to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants living legally in the U.S. under temporary protected status, David Bier feared the U.S. was slipping toward a demographic cliff. "We're destined to be there, in short order, there's no question," Bier said. "We're already seeing a situation where most counties in the United States had more deaths than births." An expert on population and immigration at the libertarian Cato Institute, Bier believes the U.S. is beginning to look more like China, Italy and South Korea — nations that face rapid aging and population decline are seen as a crisis. U.S. birthrates have been declining for decades. There are far too few children born each year to maintain a stable population. Until last year, high rates of foreign immigration largely offset that trend. But for the first time since the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the U.S. now faces record low birthrates and low numbers of migrants at the same time. "Our higher birthrates of a century ago are not coming back. There's no way to have a sustainable fiscal and economic situation that doesn't involve immigration," Bier said. …