Delivering Citizenship (Transatlantic Council Statement)

In the Transatlantic Council on Migration’s first statement, the Council concentrates on citizenship, which has become a dynamic policy vehicle for promoting the political incorporation of immigrants and their more complete integration. It is necessary to clarify definitions and imagine broad goals and desired outcomes before attempting to design and implement effective citizenship policies to meet the needs of society as a whole.

The Council’s view coalesced around the proposition that we cannot all agree on the boundaries of citizenship, but we can confirm its center. The “core” definition of citizenship is equal membership in a self-governing political community, comprising formal legal status that links individuals to a state or polity, a set of legal rights and duties, a set of responsibilities and practices that support a rules-based democratic self-government, and a collective identity that can be shared across distinctions of income, class, race, gender, religion, ethnic origin or lifestyle.

While citizenship offers fundamental protections that are not available through integration, certain elements of integration policy are arguably more important for success in society.