How Governments Use Immigration to Boost Their Economies

Governments the world over are grappling with how to make immigration work for their economies without fanning political flames. Nativism helped crystallize support for Brexit in the U.K. and almost cost German Chancellor Angela Merkel a fourth term. President Trump says the U.S. immigration system is “broken”—and while some of his opponents may grudgingly agree with that, there is little common ground on how to repair it.

For inspiration on possible fixes, Americans might look north to Canada, which uses a points-based system to screen economic migrants—a group that makes up almost 60% of its immigrants. The method, which factors in criteria such as education and work experience, is a reason only 27% of Canadians regard immigrants as a burden on their country—the lowest percentage among the 18 nations surveyed in a Pew Research Center poll released in March.