Dear Friends,
I’m in Prague, Czech Republic, for the next three weeks teaching a course on Comparative Immigration Policy. The law students in the course are from the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and, of course, the United States. I hope to be checking in with you from time to time.
In my book, on NAFTA (Ethical Borders), I argue that the U.S., Canada, and Mexico ought to approach migration and investment in a manner that takes lessons from the EU. As I’ve begun to discuss this issue with local instructors and students, I’m more convinced than ever. Billions of Euros continue to be spent on infrastructure for poorer nations that have been admitted into the EU, so that those countries can be lifted economically. In spite of the recession, this continues to be true. Billions are being invested in Poland, for example, so that Polish nationals can develop jobs of their own.
At the same time, analogies to some of the dark side of immigration debates in the U.S. can be seen in the EU as well. The denial of the multiethnic reality perpetuates the conceptualization of third- and fourth-generation immigrants as “foreigners.” There has also been a rise in popularity of center- or far right political parties. At the same time, fortunately, various policies aimed more broadly at promoting social inclusion and valuing divesity has been evident in some campaigns.
As the U.S. began seeing immigration more avidly through the lens of national security following the 9/11 attacks, the Patriot Act, and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, subsequent attacks in Spain (2004) and the UK (2005) have led to a conflation of immigration control policies with measures designed to support the war on terror. In effect, immigrans have increasingly been seen as a threat to national security in some quarters.
bh