Though domestic immigration battles get more attention on this side of the Atlantic, Europe’s immigrants face their share of government raids and misunderstandings, especially since religion has become a factor in a way that it would never be here. In many Western European cities, large numbers of Asian, Eastern European and African immigrants live in ethnic enclaves with little outside contact—leading to suspicion on both sides.

Recently, reporter Alexandra Starr took a look at immigration in Europe in a six-part series for the online magazine Slate.

In Germany, where the Holocaust is fresh in the national consciousness, open immigrant-bashing is condemned, but the country is having a difficult time integrating its large Turkish population, which originally came as part of a guest worker program like the one in America’s failed comprehensive immigration reform plan.

In Austria, an Albanian teenager gained national fame when she refused a deportation order and was allowed to stay in the country until graduating from high school. Many illegal immigrants are not so lucky, and Austria’s immigration laws are considered some of the strictest in Europe.

In the Netherlands, perhaps the most socially liberal country in the world, tensions with socially conservative Muslim immigrants have led to political assassinations and an immigration crackdown.

Poland has supplied immigrant workers to western European countries for years, but the flood is slowing down as Poland’s economy improves. Now, immigrants from farther east are coming to Poland.

Ireland, once one of the most common points of origin for immigrants to the U.S., now attracts its own immigrants. While some Irish have had trouble adjusting, the government has had some success promoting integration, even going so far as to allow people who have been in the country for six months to vote and run in local elections.

In Spain, once generous immigration policies have led to a backlash against cheap labor, especially with a downturn in the economy.

(Wikipedia map)