Immigration within and to Europe has increased in recent years, increasing the concerns of local populations (Pilcher 2010, p445). I will examine the sociocultural challenges that immigration introduces. These include real and perceived impacts on indigenous populations, as well as the policy responses that arise from these issues. Next, economic well-being is one aspect of the immigration issue that will be examined. I will look at some of the different issues encountered when tackling this topic. Although no attempt is made to reach conclusions about the de facto effects of immigration in terms of economies, examination of the arguments put forward can help to assess the scale of the challenge posed by immigration. I will also examine some of the structural changes immigration brings to the political sphere, with electoral and representative politics being affected. With constituencies changing significantly in many countries, the resulting changes in policy and governance are concerns that must be taken seriously. Social and Cultural Challenges The social and cultural tensions that arise from welcoming immigrant communities are often expressed as a failure of integration or assimilation. immigrants in society. However, divisions can be amplified due to the liberal and egalitarian doctrines that underpin European states. Provisions must be made for immigrant citizens, which may cause resentment among the existing population due to competition for dwindling resources, as well as the overarching factor of cultural stability (Lahav 2004, p1167). However, this difficulty could be alleviated by the inclusion of non-European immigrants in a reformulation of European identity. If, as Diez and Whitman (2002) argue, ... middle of article ...... ect individuals at the micro level, but research suggests that there are context-dependent problems in societies . This means that immigration challenges cannot be addressed by assuming that macroeconomic scenarios correspond to different solutions. Countries on both sides of the spectrum face problems in managing immigration and its consequences on different layers of existing society. Here again, the challenge is one that political leaders and the media themselves are still unsure about. If the effects of immigration on the economy are to be determined, the implementation of appropriate policies must be pursued without regard to political and ideological pressures. The biggest challenge facing European states when it comes to immigration is to identify and address the causes of insecurity, both within immigrant and indigenous communities...