No matter what country you are a resident of, the hot topic for the majority of politicians in the Western world in 2017 seems to be immigration. The rise in incidences of terrorism around the globe has lead to a spreading of fear amongst the populations of immigration destinations such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In the last few years, these three countries in particular have been hit hard by acts of terrorism, and we have seen a reaction to this in their immigration policies that the leading politicians have set out. With Donald Trump recently winning the US Presidential election and general elections coming in the near future for both France and the United Kingdom, immigration is more at the forefront of policy making and public consciousness than ever before. The question is, however, what exactly are these three nations pledging to to do about immigration? Let’s take a look at each country individually.
The United States Of America
President Trump has vowed to take a hard line approach on immigration to the United States. He has pledged to find and deport millions of Mexican immigrants who are living in the country illegally, but many news stories have already highlighted instances of Mexicans being deported who were legally allowed to be residing in the States. In terms of Muslim asylum seekers, Trump promised in his campaign to impose a total ban of all Muslims entering in to the country, but this has proved unsuccessful and deemed unlawful by several different judges. Seemingly only popular with his core support base, President Trump has been criticised across the world for what many deem to be overly aggressive stances that border on blind racism.
France
Marine Le Pen, former leader of the French National Front but now running as an independent, is set to go head to head with Centrist Emmanuel Macron for the French presidency in May. A woman known for her right wing viewpoints, Le Pen’s stance on immigration can be likened to that of Donald Trump’s. Among Le Pen’s key campaign promises are to cut legal immigration entrants in France to 10,000 a year, vastly speed up the deportation process for those found to be illegal and to narrow the opportunities to gain French citizenship, claiming that right to be “either inherited or merited”. Nearly all experts are predicting a strong Macron win in the French election, but one could argue that the same was said for Hillary Clinton at times during 2016, and therefore these types of candidates cannot be disregarded completely.
United Kingdom
Though the United Kingdom is set for a surprise general election in June 2017, current Prime Minister, Conservative leader Theresa May. Generally considered to be traditionally right wing with her views on immigration, May pledged to cut immigration to the United Kingdom by “tens of thousands”. The Prime Minister has in fact been quotes as saying that matters of immigration are more important than matters of the British economy, a belief challenged by many. However, should the Labour party snatch a surprise win in the upcoming general election, party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s views could not be more different. Corbyn does not believe that immigration in to the country is too high. Corbyn holds none of the nationalist traits that those in the Conservative party do, and a United Kingdom under his leadership would be in remarkable contrast to that of Donald Trump’s United States and Marine Le Pen’s France.
With a general fear of terrorism gripping the world, it can be very easy to see immigration as a cold topic rather than contemplating those who are making the effort to make a new life somewhere else.
