Despite institutional differences, EU and U.S. policymakers confront shared migration challenges and openings for mutual learning.

Immigrants are thought to bring widely shared economic benefits to the countries in which they settle, but with the rapid pace of change that new migration flows have brought, governments also face the challenge of ensuring smooth economic, social, cultural, and linguistic integration for immigrants and their families. Policy objectives and the outcomes they seek to achieve inevitably change with the evolution of immigration flows, and changing demographic, economic and geopolitical trends make it all the more important for governments to ensure that their policies both support social and economic advancement of existing immigrant populations and contribute to economic growth and job creation. 

In this final research series report, the authors examine the challenges and opportunities ahead for immigration policymakers. The many uncertainties that face immigration policymakers in the short term, such as vulnerability of public funding for social programs, coupled with persistent long-term economic and demographic challenges, underline the need for reflection on how immigration systems have evolved on both sides of the Atlantic, and how countries can better position themselves to reap the benefits of migration more fully.

This report highlights opportunities for future reform, as well as ways in which the European Union and United States could improve their cooperative relationship.

Table of Contents

Introduction

I.      Addressing the Impacts of Demographic Change and Economic Competitiveness

II.     Immigrant Integration, Employment, and Social Cohesion

III.    Border Management and Security

IV.    Development and Cooperation with Sending Countries

V.     Humanitarian Protection

VI.    Transatlantic Cooperation on International Migration

About the MPI-EUI Project

This concluded, EU-funded project identified ways in which European and U.S. immigration systems can be improved to address major challenges, in the context of economic turmoil and in the longer term.

About the Global Program

The Global Program bridges policy advice, research, and candid dialogue to design effective migration policies, drawing on global evidence and anticipating the forces reshaping how people move.