Swiss Immigration Referendum Is Close - Switzerland isn't the only country rethinking immigration. Germany's conservative Christian Social Union party has called for new rules to prevent immigrants from arriving and claiming social benefits, a practice it calls "poverty immigration." Political groups in the U.K., Denmark, the Netherlands and France have also called for tighter immigration controls

From The Wall Street Journal:

A widely watched Swiss referendum on capping immigration is extremely close with preliminary results showing slightly more than half of voters approving the measure.

With 24 of Switzerland's 26 cantons reporting results, 50.9% of voters approved the Stop Mass Immigration measure that would require the government to introduce quotas. The initiative has already received approval from more than half the country's 26 cantons, a requirement for passage.

 

The Swiss People's Party, which collected the 100,000 signatures needed to prompt the vote, says the curbs are needed because a rise in the number of immigrants has created too much competition for jobs, raised property prices and rents, and overtaxed the local transportation system. About 64,000 EU citizens have settled in Switzerland every year over the past decade, according to the Federal Office for Migration.

 

Switzerland isn't the only country rethinking immigration. Germany's conservative Christian Social Union party has called for new rules to prevent immigrants from arriving and claiming social benefits, a practice it calls "poverty immigration." Political groups in the U.K., Denmark, the Netherlands and France have also called for tighter immigration controls.