9 - Difference and Convergence: Immigration Policy in the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany

Summary

Translated by Tradukas

Global migration movements and large refugee populations have become increasingly characteristic of the decades since the mid-1960s. Wealthy industrialized countries thus face the pressing problem of developing a coordinated immigration policy. The ideas that shape their policies and the reactions to migration movements are not determined solely by the political and economic situation prevailing in countries that are host to these newcomers. They also depend on a combination of international factors and the self-images of these countries. The immigration policies of the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) are thus quite different. Although immigration quotas and criteria are repeatedly contested in the United States and sometimes subjected to significant changes, there is a broad consensus that America is a nation of immigrants. The Federal Republic is different in this regard, not least because of its conception of national identity. An oft-repeated argument in the debates of the late 1980s emphasized that Germany was not an “immigration country” (Einwanderungsland). Differences notwithstanding, there has been a degree of convergence resulting from similar challenges, including, for example, huge numbers of refugees, labor migration, and conflicts of the Cold War and post-Cold War era.