How cities and regions are turning immigrants into citizens, whatever the central governments think
In November 2020 the city of Zurich introduced the [‘Zueri City Card’](https://www.zuericitycard.ch/), an urban ID Card for undocumented persons, providing them with a valid identification, access to health care and other social services. In contrast, a Muslim woman living in Ticino finds herself more restricted in her daily life, and cannot wear a Burka – something which would, however, be possible for her in the nearby cantons Uri or Wallis. This is an example of an increasing worldwide trend of cities and regions in the same country (Switzerland in this case) engaging in immigrant-integration policy making, and in many cases challenging or complementing central and federal governments’ policies in doing so. What immigrants receive and what they owe varies substantially within countries, sometimes more so than the variety between countries.
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