This volume examines Canada’s migration policy as part of its foreign policy. It is well known that Canada is a nation of immigrants. However, immigration policy has largely been regarded as domestic, rather than, foreign policy, with most scholarly and policy work focused on what happens after immigrants have arrived in this country. As a result, the effects of immigration to Canada on foreign affairs have been largely neglected despite the international character of immigration. The contributors to this volume underline the extent to which Canada’s relationships with individual countries and with the international community is closely affected by its immigration policies and practices and draw attention to some of these areas in the hope that it will encourage more scholarly and policy activity directed to the impact of immigration on foreign affairs. Written by both academics and policy-makers, the book analyzes some of the latest thinking and initiatives related to linkages between migration and foreign policy.

Ellermann examines the development of immigration policies in four democracies from the postwar era to the present.

The market for high-skilled workers is becoming increasingly global, as are the markets for knowledge and ideas. While high-skilled immigrants in the United States represent a much smaller proportion of the workforce than they do in countries such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, these immigrants have an important role in spurring innovation and economic growth in all countries and filling shortages in the domestic labor supply. This report summarizes the proceedings of a Fall 2014 workshop that focused on how immigration policy can be used to attract and retain foreign talent. Participants compared policies on encouraging migration and retention of skilled workers, attracting qualified foreign students and retaining them post-graduation, and input by states or provinces in immigration policies to add flexibility in countries with regional employment differences, among other topics. They also discussed how immigration policies have changed over time in response to undesired labor market outcomes and whether there was sufficient data to measure those outcomes.

Few issues on the American political agenda are more complex or divisive than immigration. There is no shortage of problems with current policies and practices, from the difficulties and delays that confront many legal immigrants to the large number of illegal immigrants living in the country. Moreover, few issues touch as many areas of U.S. domestic life and foreign policy. Immigration is a matter of homeland security and international competitiveness, as well as a deeply human issue central to the lives of millions of individuals and families. It cuts to the heart of questions of citizenship and American identity and plays a large role in shaping both America's reality and its image in the world. Immigration's emergence as a foreign policy issue coincides with the increasing reach of globalization. Not only must countries today compete to attract and retain talented people from around the world, but the view of the United States as a place of unparalleled openness and opportunity is also crucial to the maintenance of American leadership. There is a consensus that current policy is not serving the United States well on any of these fronts. Yet agreement on reform has proved elusive. The goal of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy was to examine this complex issue and craft a nuanced strategy for reforming immigration policies and practices.

Numerous studies explore immigration policies of individual receiving countries. But these studies share several weaknesses. First and foremost, they are empirically orientated and lack a general theory. Second, most examine the policy of single country during a limited period, or, in a few cases, are contributed volumes analyzing each country separately. In general, immigration policy literature tends to be a-theoretic, to focus on specific periods and particular countries, and constitutes an array of discrete bits. This book is a response to this trend, offering a theoretical approach to immigration policy. It explains how governments decide on the number of immigrants they will accept; whether to differentiate between various ethnic groups; whether to accept refugees and on what basis; and whether to favour permanent immigration over migrant workers. The book also answers such questions as: How much influence do extreme-right parties have on the determination of immigration policy? Why do anti-immigration parties and initiatives enjoy greater success in local-state elections, and in the elections for the European Parliament, than in national elections? And under what circumstances does immigration policy become an electoral issue? Meyers draws on a wide array of sources on migration policy-making and using them derives proposed models in a way that few others have done before him. In addition, the book interrelates global and domestic factors that jointly influence government policy-making on international migration in a way that helps to clarify both spheres. Lastly, the work combines historical data with contemporary processes, in a way that draws lessons from the past while recognizing that changing circumstances usually revise governmental responses.

A timely analysis of Canadian temporary labour migration policies.