Why we should invest in Europe’s immigrants

Exactly 20 years ago, French moviegoers were shocked by a gritty, low-budget black-and-white film called “La Haine” (Hatred) that conveyed the poverty and sense of hopelessness in a run-down immigrant district of Paris. In the film, disaffected youngsters clash with police and go on a killing spree. The only thing that has changed since then is the growth of Islamic fundamentalism and the religious radicalization of some young people.

Only French Prime Minister Manuel Valls – the son of Spanish immigrants – has highlighted the issue, referring to the “social and ethnic apartheid” that has developed in his country. The need to address this outcome in France and across Europe has become more important than ever, as rioting and criminality by young and underprivileged immigrants are matched by the rise of far-right political parties.

Europe cannot afford ethnic confrontation; on the contrary, with their aging, shrinking populations, European countries badly need more immigrants. The statistics are confusing and sometimes contradictory, but the European Union’s current foreign-born population of some 33 million may grow by a further 100 million immigrants by mid-century. These are the people who will sustain Europe’s tax-paying workforce at current levels.

To be sure, it is not easy to integrate immigrants from Arab countries and Sub-Saharan Africa – arriving in EU countries at an annual rate approaching two million – into European society. Their skills and education levels often confine them to low-paid work. But that does not mean that successive generations must be condemned to second-class citizenship.

Schools and adequate housing are crucial for integration and the creation of productive members of society. But a glance at the immigrant districts of any major European city reveals a picture of under-spending and neglect. It has been a false economy, of course, as statistics show that unemployment among young people in immigrant communities correlates with surging crime figures.

The European Commission’s new president, Jean-Claude Juncker, is championing an ambitious plan to kick-start the European economy by investing more than €300 billion ($348 billion) in infrastructure projects. In light of the tragic events in Paris, he should be harnessing the outpouring of solidarity to transform his plan into an agenda for improving the living conditions of Europe’s immigrant communities.

In Brussels, EU officials are busily assessing cross-border projects like road and rail links, hoping that a concerted construction program can fend off the specter of deflation haunting many member countries. The fear is that once wages and incomes begin to fall, the EU will move from the doldrums of recent years into an outright depression that could take decades to escape.

Supporters of Juncker’s investment plan point to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal in the United States in the 1930s. The federal government’s construction binge – a concrete cornucopia of dams, roads, ports, and much else – helped America overcome the Great Depression.