Immigration and its political implications in Western Europe

Immigration is one of the major processes that have been affecting Western Europe with great emphasis, especially since three decades. The topic is rich of implications and can be studied taking into account several facets. In this work, the focus is narrowed to a few aspects and the argument is divided into three sections: 1. the first one briefly describes connections between immigration and nation-states as put forth by some authors. 2. the second one surveys public opinions in Western Europe to inspect whether xenophobic sentiments have effectively taken roots. Moreover, a brief analysis of party competition is brought into account, with three examples of party locations along the dimension of immigration. 3. the third one focuses on the problem of social rights of noncitizens, analysing the demands of health care by irregular immigrants opposed to those claimed by the members of nation-states in Europe.