B. Meredith Burke, 55; Demographer Pushed Immigration Reform

B. Meredith Burke, 55, a demographer and writer who argued for immigration reform as a chief means of battling overpopulation, died Dec. 11 at her home in Santa Barbara.

Burke left a suicide note and apparently took her own life, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department said.

Burke, a native of Los Angeles, had a master’s degree and a doctorate in demographics from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s in economics from USC. A senior writing fellow for Santa Barbara-based Californians for Population Stabilization, she campaigned to limit immigration through commentaries published in major newspapers from San Francisco to San Diego.

Unafraid of riling fellow Democrats with her strong views on the need to curb the flow of newcomers, Burke used her skills as a demographer to argue that U.S. immigration policy was the main cause of steep rises in California’s population and a root cause of environmental degradation.

She was also interested in women’s rights and public health issues. She co-authored a book on prenatal testing and founded Lariam Action USA, an information service for users of the anti-malaria drug mefloquine.