[tttp]

I'm not sure you have enough facts to support your arguments

1) most probably if you take into account other factors (social economics ones), the nationality it's not a major one

2) as you said, the wealth created by migrants can be a net positive effect

3) many immigrants (85%) come from EU

4) almost none "ethnic ghettos" in CH

5) agree it's different. CH has about a 1/3 of its population that are migrants and they are generally welcomed and integrated (the regions that got most migrants rejected the initiative).

Beside, there isn't a unified "swiss culture". If you simply look at the languages, they are 3 different ones.

[guard-of-terra]

1) Bad social economic factors arise from bringing in a lot of immigrants and paying them "below water level".

Also leaving them to their own devices.

I don't know if that is the case with Switzerland but there is just so much immigrants you can integrate and so much discount work you can get from them before you begin to rip the social fabric of the country; And this is happening in some countries, they push too hard.

So, limiting immigration to some realistic amount seems to be the right thing. Of course this applies less to educated professionals from similar cultures and more to cheap labor.

[RivieraKid]

1) Perhaps it's just the poor and unemployed immigrants that cause criminality. But still, you can say that immigration increases unemployment and therefore criminality.

2) That's why it's important who can immigrate. An uneducated family escaping from a poor country?

3) 4) 5) Ok, good points, these were mostly general arguments against immigration.

As for the unified culture - I would say that their culture is more unified than in the rest of europe. Languages are not that important.

[tttp]

1) No you can't gerneralise. Immigrants from France and Germany in CH are less criminal (well, technically less arrested ;) than swiss citizen.

2) CH immigration has always been selective, like most countries. The difference was that a few years ago citizen from "rich" eu countries could come without extra barrier. That's what has been voted to be changed.

As for the unified culture,I'm swiss and I lived both in CH and other countries in Europe. We have a lot in common within the country, but at least as much that is different. And language is one huge part of a culture, because it frames how you think and defines what books or movies you can access too.

X+