Introduction: The problem

Both Europe and the United States are “countries” of immigration. Each year about 1.5 million immigrants legally enter the countries that comprise the European Union (the EU-15), with considerable variation among countries. A generation ago, the most important differences within Europe were between countries that had historically needed and received immigrants (France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), and those that had been the providers of immigrants (Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal). Now, however, all of the senders are receivers, and the variation is among the levels of immigration. Indeed, Europe now receives between 4.7 immigrants per thousand population on the high end (1992) – 3.9 on the low end (2001), compared with about 3.8 per thousand in the United States (SOPEMI 2004: 305–10).

The most important differences between Europe and the United States are not those of levels of immigration, but differences in the politics of immigration: immigration policy and the dynamics that drive this policy. The United States has a relatively open immigration policy, one that sets a (flexible) ceiling on the number of legal immigrants admitted each year, the basis on which they are to be admitted, and the principle criteria that govern admission. Although the ceilings set on immigration never exactly correspond to the actual number of immigrants admitted to the United States each year, there is a general relationship between the intent of the law (to admit and limit immigrants) and the results.