America’s New Demographic Reality

“We are one of the few countries that’s really set up to manage large-scale immigration, and we could postpone the depopulation that a lot of other countries are going to experience for the balance of this century if we had a rational immigration policy.”

—Bill King, Fellow in Public Finance, Baker Institute

About the Episode

For the first time in decades, the U.S. immigrant population is declining — and with it, the country's long-held assumption of steady population growth. Bill King joins the podcast to discuss how demographic trends and President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration policies are shaping the nation’s future labor force, economy, and identity, as well the importance of rational immigration policy for dealing with the challenges of global depopulation.

This conversation was recorded on Oct. 13, 2025. 

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Mentioned in this episode:

• Bill King, Depopulation: Our New Demographic Reality (Stoney Creek Publishing, forthcoming).

About ‘Baker Briefing’

Hosted by David M. Satterfield,  the “Baker Briefing” podcast delivers timely analysis on breaking policy developments and other critical policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute. New episodes are released weekly.

Select episodes of “Baker Briefing” are recorded in front of a live audience at Rice University in Houston, Texas. These recordings are free and open to the public. To learn about upcoming recordings and other public programming from the Baker Institute, subscribe to our “Events Digest” newsletter, delivered weekly.

This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.