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U.S. leaders can find some lessons on narrowing the gaps from Europe. Today, it is taken for granted that a citizen of any European Union country has the right to live and work in any other member state. Achieving this open-door policy was not easy.
When Spain and Portugal wanted to join the EU in the 1980s, there was widespread fear that migrants from these poorer countries would flood northward, stealing jobs and straining public services.
In response, the EU postponed lifting borders for five years after both countries were accepted as members in 1986. What happened during that transition is key.
Determined to narrow the gaps with their southern neighbors, the richer countries poured in aid for infrastructure and workforce training. They also encouraged Spain and Portugal to strengthen their social safety nets.
These efforts helped level the playing field so that when borders were lifted, there was no exodus. If anything, the migration flows went in reverse, as thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese who had been working in northern Europe went back home to take advantage of new job opportunities.
In 2011, the EU will be opening borders to 10 additional countries in Eastern Europe, most of them quite poor. The income gaps between Germany and Poland, for example, are nearly as vast as those between the United States and Mexico. And yet once again, the EU is making sizeable investments in its neighbors to level the playing field.
How much can we learn from the EU experience? First, itís important not to over-romanticize a region that has its own xenophobia problems. Nor should we attempt to simply copy the EU approach. A massive aid fund is a political non-starter in the U.S. political context. Fortunately, there are other creative ways to help cash-strapped nations.
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