Posted on Friday, July 11, 2025
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by Sarah Katherine Sisk
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For decades, Western Europe has been a magnet for mass migration as millions of arrivals from North Africa and the Middle East have poured into the continent. But now, even some on the left are beginning to question the wisdom of flooding European society with foreigners who don’t share the language, culture, or history of native populations.
Nowhere is the backlash against mass migration more evident than in Denmark, which has quietly shifted from an open borders haven to a model for strict immigration enforcement.
Perhaps most surprisingly, this change has been driven in part by center-left Social Democrats who are suddenly sounding a lot like conservatives, expressing concerns about social cohesion and the strain on public resources posed by importing mass numbers of migrants from poor nations.
Denmark was notably an early signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention and, in 1983, passed the Aliens Act – one of Europe’s more liberal immigration laws at the time – which offered broad protections for anyone claiming refugee status, including welfare benefits and family reunification rights.
But in the mid-2010s, Denmark, along with the rest of Europe, began seeing an astronomical rise in immigration, sparking concerns about integration, crime, and pressure on the country’s robust welfare system. Public anxiety grew, especially in working-class suburbs outside Copenhagen, where immigrant populations surged. Together, these pressures set the stage for a political shift that would redefine Denmark’s immigration policies.
Under the current Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, who has been in office since 2019, Denmark’s Social Democrats have taken a firm stance on immigration, setting a clear “zero vision” goal to eliminate asylum applications. This includes the “jewelry law,” which lets authorities confiscate valuables from asylum seekers to help cover their expenses, and a significant cut in benefits for most migrants – providing only food and no cash support.
To promote social cohesion, Denmark also passed a “parallel societies” law in 2018, which aims to dismantle ethnic enclaves by reducing the concentration of non-Western immigrants in certain neighborhoods through housing quotas, tougher penalties for crimes, and mandatory integration measures. The government argues that these enclaves hinder assimilation and lead to higher crime rates.
Denmark also supports its tough stance with targeted messaging campaigns in high-immigration source countries to send a clear message that it is no longer an easy destination.
As a result of this approach, asylum applications have now dropped to a 40-year low. The country’s border laws are strictly enforced, and those who arrive in Denmark and can’t demonstrate a credible asylum claim are placed in secure detention centers.
Frederiksen explained her rationale for this tough stance in an interview with The New York Times. “There is a price to pay when too many people enter your society,” she said. “Those who pay the highest price of this, it’s the working class or lower class in the society. It is not — let me be totally direct — it’s not the rich people. It is not those of us with good salaries, good jobs.”
Frederiksen’s approach has paid off politically, as her party continues to win elections and pick up seats. While migration issues elsewhere in Western Europe have helped boost the popularity of more traditionally right-wing parties, Frederiksen has effectively co-opted that issue to entrench the Social Democrats in power.
Critics claim the government’s policies are harsh and accuse it of damaging Denmark’s international image. Several policies, including the parallel societies law, face legal challenges in European courts over claims of discrimination. But the government stands firm, insisting these steps are essential to protect Danish society and ensure migrants integrate and contribute responsibly.
Denmark’s shift reflects a broader European trend toward tighter immigration controls, with countries like Germany, Sweden, and France also adopting more restrictive policies amid mounting backlash from native populations. As a result, the traditional political lines around immigration have blurred – conservative and liberal parties alike are now increasingly endorsing measures once championed only by right-wing parties.
Europe’s burgeoning anti-immigration trend may get a further boost this summer as Frederiksen prepares to take over the European Union’s rotating presidency. As Politico recently reported, “two EU diplomats said that Copenhagen would try to advance many of the same issues that Frederiksen has championed on the home front — namely stricter rules for asylum-seekers.”
For Americans, the lesson here is clear. Liberals in the United States love to venerate their counterparts in Europe – until they expose the flaws in leftist ideology. Across the continent, even progressive governments are now admitting what the left in the U.S. still refuses to: unchecked mass migration is political suicide, particularly when you mix in bloated welfare regimes.
Denmark’s Social Democrats are adapting out of necessity. Sooner or later, liberals in the United States will face the same choice – either acknowledge that mass migration is a losing issue with voters, or resign themselves to permanent minority party status in a country that has rejected their failed ideas.
Sarah Katherine Sisk is a proud Hillsdale College alumna and a master’s student in economics at George Mason University. You can follow her on X @SKSisk76.
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