Immigration Policy: What Switzerland Could Learn from the U.S. (and vice versa)

As established constitutional democracies, Switzerland and the United States have a track record of exchanging ideas and adopting each other's policies. Consider 1787, when the founders of the American republic were inspired by Switzerland's system as they were drafting the Constitution. On the other hand, Swiss lawmakers looked across the proverbial pond for guidance on their own federal constitution in 1848.

And in more recent history, Switzerland has adopted the credit system of American universities. In turn, ObamaCare, the current president's law to socialize the country's health care, is said to be loosely based on Switzerland's system.

The Transient Issue of Immigration

Now we appear to be at the brink of another milestone in history where the sister republics must peek over each other's shoulders. The topic is on immigration. Undeniably, the prosperity of both republics' economies depends on a net immigration flow.

While the United States prides itself as a "Nation of Immigrants" - Switzerland, not so much. At least not officially. However, statistics show that in 2012, the Alpine republic had a net immigration of 45'170. In other words, more people received some form of residency than left the country.

Differences Abound

Despite the cooperation on a policy level, there are stark differences between the way Switzerland handles immigration compared to the United States. One reason is simply due to geography: In terms of sheer size, Switzerland would fit in the state of Kansas twice! In terms of total border length, Switzerland has a mere 1'899 km, while the United States shares some 12'000 km of borders with its neighbors.

This would explain why Switzerland has moved to a system of open borders towards most E.U. citizens. Just in the year 2000, a majority of 67.2% of Swiss citizens have voted for a "bi-lateral" agreement".

Meanwhile, the U.S. maintains stricter enforcements. Back in the day, immigration could be more easily handled as newcomers entered through one of just a few ports. But today, the far stretched borders with Canada and Mexico pose a more difficult task.

Finally, any major changes in immigration policy require a popular vote in Switzerland - such as this weekend's. In the United States, immigration policies are decided not on a local or state level, but by the national government.

As has been the case in the past months in the U.S., any major changes to a - let's be honest - broken immigration policy have been stalled by the Republican party. In order to implement a more moderate policy which would grant eventual residency to those who have been living in the country illegally, a spark of direct democracy à la Switzerland might help.

Uncertain Impact of the Immigration Vote on Swiss Economy

With the narrow passing of the Swiss referendum to cap immigration, it is tough to forecast what is going to happen to the Swiss economy in the near future.

Switzerland narrowly approves plan for immigration quotas, with 50.5% of voters backing plan to end agreement with EU http://t.co/zzaVaoxrYT

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) February 9, 2014

On many accounts, the current Swiss immigration policy was far from broken. But now, the federal council and the parliament will need to come up with an alternative, including annual immigration caps and limits on working permits.

Sure, the procedure of setting those limits is normal in many other countries, so hopefully politicians will find a balance where immigration can be maintained at a healthy level. As Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga has indicated, a framework geared towards quality rather than quantity might be the golden goose. For instance, Canada rewards educational achievements, language skills, or work experience in a point system.

As for Swiss foreign relations, especially with the surrounding partners of the European Union, this change in direction could prove to be disastrous - or challenging at best. The European Union has indicated that should Switzerland enable immigration caps for EU citizens and therefore cancel out the bi-lateral agreement, cooperation on an economic level (including exports) could be harmed.

(This post is inspired by the opinion piece "Migration policy debates in the USA and Switzerland" by Drew Keeling, which was translated to German for Tages-Anzeiger; photograph copyright by Keystone)