Immigration Policy in Canada and the United States: Why So Different?

Featured Speaker: Professor Edward Alden

The Canadian government recently announced that it will admit nearly 1.5 million immigrants over the next three years, the greatest number in its history, and most Canadians have cheered the decision. In the United States, by contrast, immigration has been falling in recent years amidst political divisions and processing backlogs. This talk will look at why two continental neighbors have taken such different paths on immigration.

Presenter Biography

Edward Alden is a visiting professor at Western Washington University and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy (2016). His first book, The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration, and Security Since 9/11 (2008), was a finalist for the Lukas Book Prize for narrative nonfiction. He was previously Washington bureau chief for Financial Times and is currently a columnist for Foreign Policy. He graduated from The University of British Columbia and received his MA in International Relations and Foreign Affairs from UC Berkeley.

Coordinator: Kamesh Gupta