Shared Challenges and Opportunities for EU and U.S. Immigration Policymakers

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.