For this week Sum blog I would like to discuss the issue of
immigration. Even though I could write
for days on policy in the United States, I am going to discuss immigration in
Switzerland and let you be the judge.
Switzerland faces similar and different issues than the United States,
but is it really doing any better?
First of all, Switzerland has about 80,000 new immigrants
each year. These immigrants come to
Switzerland for its continued economic growth and high standard of living. Switzerland has only a 3.1% unemployment
rate, unlike the rest of Europe which hovers around a 11% unemployment
rate. However, recently the Federal
Council decided to set a quota on long term resident permits. One of the possible reasons for this is that
nearly a quarter of Switzerland’s population is accounted for by documented
immigrants. There could be many impacts
on their welfare system, housing, and general infrastructure. This put a lot of pressure on politicians to
take action.
The government acted and allowed Switzerland to set their
quotas. There has been mixed reactions
in Switzerland. As we discussed in
class, there are several push and pull factors at play in this situation for
the immigrants. They are pulled toward Switzerland’s
economic stability and opportunity. As
we also discussed, Switzerland as an institution has a purpose of national
identity, distribution of people, and implementation of policy. In this recent article they have demonstrated
all three of these. Some other things to
think about in this situation is that immigration is not a new or only an
American problem, there are countries all over the world dealing with the same
issues. Overall I think that the
immigration issue in Switzerland is far from over but definitely a step in the
right direction. I have also attached a
video that provides more information and brings up even more questions below…
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