1. 2.5 Million New Illegal Aliens Under Obama
2. Fear of Islamic Extremism Surges in Muslim Countries Too
3. Nearly Half of U.S. Moms in Their 20s Have Never Wed
4. Growth of Manufacturing Jobs Greatest in Michigan
5. French Rule Out Poisoning in Arafat's Death
6. Democrats Bigger Drinkers Than Republicans: Poll
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1. 2.5 Million New Illegal Aliens Under Obama
With GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump decrying America's lack of border security, a new report cites the "enormous ongoing scale of illegal immigration" — 750,000 new immigrants have entered the country illegally since 2013.
That brings to 2.5 million the total number of new illegal immigrants since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, according to the report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
The size of the illegal population, estimated at 11 million to 12 million, has remained roughly constant since 2009 because the number of new arrivals has been offset by the number of illegal aliens who voluntarily returned to their home countries or were deported, who gained legal status by marrying a U.S. citizen or other means, or who died.
Had the U.S. been successful in stopping the flow of illegals into the country, the number of undocumented immigrants would have fallen by 2.5 million under Obama.
Up to 400,000 new illegals have entered the country each year under Obama, compared to 500,000 to 600,000 a year in the first six years of the George W. Bush administration.
"While the level of new illegal immigration is lower than a decade ago, the enormous ongoing scale of illegal immigration is a clear indication that the United States has not come close to controlling it," the CIS pointed out.
About one-third of new arrivals in the United States each year are illegal immigrants, and many illegals have managed to remain in the country for long periods of time, even decades.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the current population of illegals includes 890,000 who entered between 1980 and 1984, and 1.1 million who came here between 1985 and 1989.
In fact, more than half of all illegals now in the country, 59 percent, entered the country before the turn of the century.
Illegals now comprise 3.5 percent of the U.S. population, but 5.1 percent of the American workforce.
Editor's Note:
2. Fear of Islamic Extremism Surges in Muslim Countries Too
With the growing strength of ISIS and the continuing threat from al-Qaida, the Taliban and various terrorist groups, concerns about Islamic extremism are growing in the West — and in countries with large Muslim populations as well.
The percentage of the population in France who say they are very concerned about Islamic extremism in their country has soared 38 points since 2011, increasing from 29 percent to 67 percent. That’s according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted in 21 nations among more than 21,000 respondents.
The rise follows the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris in January.
The percentage of those who are very concerned has risen 29 points in Spain, 21 points in the U.K., 20 points in Germany, and 17 points in the U.S., from 36 percent to 53 percent.
A majority of those polled are very concerned in France, Spain, the U.S., Italy, and the U.K.
Among nations with large Muslim populations, Nigeria has seen the greatest increase in the percentage of the population who are very concerned about Islamic extremism — up 18 points from 2013 to 68 percent today, as the government battles the Boko Haram terrorist group.
In Lebanon, the percentage who are very concerned has risen 12 percentage points since 2013 — before the threat from ISIS became widely known — to 67 percent.
In Pakistan, 48 percent say they are very concerned, followed by 40 percent in the Palestinian territories, 27 percent in Jordan, 26 percent in Malaysia, 20 percent in Indonesia, and 19 percent in Turkey.
In the U.S., women, older Americans, Republicans, and those who say religion is important in their lives are the most likely to be very concerned about Islamic extremism.
For example, 71 percent of Republicans are very concerned, compared with 45 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independents.
One surprise in the Pew poll: A minority of respondents in Israel, just 37 percent, say they are very concerned about Islamic extremism, despite the nearby threats from Hamas and Hezbollah.
Editor's Note:
3. Nearly Half of U.S. Moms in Their 20s Have Never Wed
Recently released U.S. Census Bureau figures disclose that 45.4 percent of American mothers in their 20s have never been married.
As of June 2014, there were 8.118 million U.S. mothers in the 20-to-29 age group, and 3.689 million of them had never been married.
"In comparison with all others, young mothers are more likely to have had their first birth when they were neither married nor cohabiting," the Bureau stated.
There were 9.9 million single mothers living with children younger than 18 in 2014, up sharply from 3.4 million in 1970.
Including both married and unmarried mothers, there were 43.5 million moms between the ages of 15 and 50, and they had given birth to 95.8 million children.
Among women ages 15 to 50, 42.5 percent had no children, 17 percent had one child, 22.3 percent had two children, 11.7 percent had three, and about 6.8 percent had four or more.
Last year only 5.2 million married women were stay-at-home moms, while the number of child day care services employees across the country topped 862,000.
Census data also show that women living below the poverty line have a higher birthrate than those living above it.
Women living in poverty have a birth rate of about 82 births per 1,000, while those with incomes at 100 to 199 percent of the poverty line have a rate of 63 births per 1,000. For those at 200 percent of the line or higher, the rate is 45 births per 1,000.
Editor's Note:
4. Growth of Manufacturing Jobs Greatest in Michigan
Industrial employment has seen a surge in the United States over the past five years, with the sector adding around 855,000 new jobs — an increase of 7.5 percent.
The factors driving the increase include rising wages in China, which discourages American manufacturing firms from operating there, and the U.S. energy boom fueled by improved drilling techniques (including fracking), which lowers manufacturing costs.
Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, NewGeography.com compiled rankings of 373 large, medium-sized, and small U.S. cities based on their manufacturing jobs.
The rankings take into account manufacturing growth over specified periods: from 2003 to 2014 (long term), 2009 to 2014 (medium term), and the past two years, plus momentum.
At the top of the list for job growth among large cities — those with at least 450,000 nonfarm jobs — is the Detroit metro area. Since 2009, Detroit has seen 31.3 percent growth to 89,300 industrial jobs, due in large part to a flourishing auto industry, and 9.8 percent growth from 2013 to 2014.
In second place is another Michigan metro, Warren-Troy in the Detroit suburbs, which has seen 38.8 percent growth since 2009 including 5.1 percent in the last two years.
Yet another Michigan metro takes third place — Grand Rapids, which has seen 27.9 percent growth from 2009 to 2014 and now has 104,000 manufacturing jobs, according to NewGeography.com.
Growth in the auto industry has also fueled employment in the Nashville, Tenn., metro, No. 4 on the list with 23.9 percent growth from 2009 to 2014.
Rounding out the top 10 metros, in order, are: Albany, N.Y.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Louisville, Ky.; Kansas City, Mo.; Houston, Texas, and Portland, Ore.
America's three largest metros have seen a loss of manufacturing jobs in recent years. Los Angeles ranks No. 59 among the 70 large metros, with a 2.9 percent decline in those jobs from 2009 to 2014; Chicago is No. 60 with a 1.5 percent decline — including a 0.8 percent drop in the last two years; and New York is No. 62 with a 3.3 percent decline.
New Orleans is at the bottom of the list with a 15.3 percent decline since 2009.
Among medium-sized cities — those with 150,000 to 450,000 jobs — Toledo, Ohio, is No. 1 with growth of 27.4 percent from 2009 to 2014, followed by Savannah, Ga., and Baton Rouge, La.
For small cities with less than 150,000 jobs, Madera, Calif., is No. 1 with a 59.8 percent job growth, followed by Naples, Fla., and Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla.
Editor's Note:
5. French Rule Out Poisoning in Arafat's Death
A French prosecutor has dismissed a case filed by Yasser Arafat's widow alleging that the Palestinian leader had been poisoned by Israel.
"The prosecution gave the opinion that the case should be dismissed," the prosecutor's office in Nanterre told AFP.
Arafat's widow, Suha, filed the case in 2012 at a court in Nanterre, north of Paris, amid conflicting reports about the cause of Arafat's death at age 75.
Arafat fell ill on Oct. 25, 2004, at his compound in Ramallah on the West Bank. His condition deteriorated, and after visits from doctors from three Arab countries, he was taken to France on a French government jet and admitted to the Percy military hospital in Clamart, a suburb of Paris.
He lapsed into a coma on Nov. 3 and was pronounced dead on Nov. 11. French doctors said he had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke.
His medical records were initially withheld by Palestinian officials and his widow refused to permit an autopsy.
In September 2005, an Israeli AIDS expert claimed Arafat bore all the symptoms of AIDS, but The New York Times refuted that claim.
Arafat's personal physician said Arafat was poisoned. A senior Israeli doctor said he died as a result of food poisoning.
In November 2012, Arafat's tomb in Ramallah was opened and French, Swiss, and Russian teams of investigators collected samples from Arafat's clothes and belongings, and the surrounding soil.
In November 2013, Al Jazeera reported that the Swiss team had found levels of polonium in Arafat's ribs and pelvis that were 18 to 36 times higher than the average, although it stopped short of saying he had been poisoned by the extremely radioactive element.
The Russians said they found no evidence of polonium poisoning.
And French experts said the polonium-210 and lead-210 found in Arafat's grave and in the sample "are of an environmental nature," Nanterre prosecutor Catherine Denis said.
The prosecutor's decision came three months after three French judges recommended that the case be dismissed.
Lawyers for Arafat's widow charge that the case was closed too quickly and called for more experts to be questioned.
Editor's Note:
6. Democrats Bigger Drinkers Than Republicans: Poll
Democrats are more likely to consume alcoholic beverages than are Republicans — and drinkers are more often liberal than conservative, a new poll reveals.
Gallup asked in its annual Consumption Habits poll: "Do you have occasion to use alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine or beer, or are you a total abstainer?"
Overall, 64 percent of respondents say they drink alcohol.
Among Democrats, 68 percent are drinkers, compared to 62 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of independents.
While 61 percent of conservatives drink alcohol, 69 percent of liberals and 65 percent of moderates imbibe.
The poll shows significant differences in drinking according to household income and education.
Nearly eight in 10 respondents earning $75,000 a year or more drink alcohol, while 67 percent of those earning between $30,000 and $74,999 are drinkers. The percentage falls to 45 percent for those earning less than $30,000.
"Americans of higher socio-economic status certainly have greater economic resources, and can likely afford to buy alcohol when they want to drink," Gallup observes.
"But they also are more likely to participate in activities that may involve drinking such as dining out at restaurants, going on vacation or socializing with coworkers."
Among college graduates, 80 percent drink alcohol, which is significantly more than the 64 percent of those with some college education and the 52 percent of those with a high school diploma or less.
Beer is the alcoholic beverage of choice among American drinkers, although the percentage of drinkers who say they most often drink beer has fallen from 47 percent in 1992 to 42 percent today, while wine has risen from 27 percent to 34 percent. The percentage of those who most often drink liquor has remained at 21 percent.
Other findings of the Gallup survey include:
- 35 percent of college graduates most often drink beer when they imbibe, compared to 52 percent of those with a high school diploma or less.
- 47 percent of respondents who attend church weekly say they are drinkers, while 69 percent of those who seldom or never attend church drink alcohol.
- 69 percent of men and 59 percent of women drink alcohol.
- The age group most likely to drink is 30 to 49 years old (71 percent), and seniors age 65 and above are the least likely (59 percent).
- Among married Americans, 70 percent drink alcohol, compared to 58 percent of those who are unmarried.
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