Transatlantic Trends: Mobility, Migration, and Integration

With more than 230 million people on the move worldwide, migrant-receiving societies such as the United States and Europe confront many similar immigration challenges — but they also experience the benefits that migrants can bring. U.S. and European policymakers alike need to determine admittance criteria for legal immigrants, decide between temporary and permanent labor migration programs, find solutions to reduce illegal immigration, and address the issue of integration. At the same time, policymakers must recognize that migration has important implications for domestic policy concerns, such as national security, economics, identity politics, and social cohesion.

 

Public opinion is crucial for policymakers in determining appropriate courses of action. GMF’s public opinion surveys Transatlantic Trends and Transatlantic Trends: Immigration  have addressed immigration and integration policy issues in a systematic way, and compared them across the Atlantic and within Europe. They produced a wealth of interesting data: some questions show surprisingly stable trends in public opinion on immigration and integration despite changing political environments, while others showed that public opinion is nuanced and differentiated rather than polarized.

 

This report provides an overview of the 2014 key findings on mobility, migration, and integration from the Transatlantic Trends survey, as well as selected highlights of the years 2008-13 compiled through both surveys — Transatlantic Trends in 2013 and Transatlantic Trends: Immigration (2008-11).