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How does citizenship policy influence the resilience of immigrants during economic downturns? Access to citizenship generates large inequalities in access to rights and job opportunities, influencing immigrants’ resilience to economic recessions and further shaping their integration trajectories. We study the compounded effect of citizenship laws with the 2008 economic crisis in Spain, leveraging the country's dual-track naturalization system, where most immigrants face a ten-year residency requirement to apply for citizenship, while nationals from select countries, primarily Latin American, qualify after only two years. We first document, using a shift-share instrument with municipal-level census data, an increase in citizenship acquisition among fast-track immigrants in response to the economic crisis. An analysis of cross-sectional survey data from the Basque Country and Spain shows that these differentiated access to citizenship amplified the effect of the economic crisis on various indicators of economic status and social integration. Altogether, the findings show that the economic recession unveiled latent vulnerabilities among standard-track immigrants, while those in the fast-track could resort to different strategies that rely on their relatively easier access to citizenship. These findings suggest that the dual-track system contributed to diverging patterns of naturalization and social integration.

This study presents an original mapping of organisations led by forcibly displaced and stateless persons (DSP) in Europe. Based on a multilingual survey of 100 organisations conducted between December 2024 and March 2025, it provides an overview of their goals, activities, and challenges, highlighting their critical role in humanitarian action, advocacy, and social cohesion. The mapping reveals a dynamic of crisis-driven formation: DSP-led organisations often emerge during acute displacement events, filling gaps in humanitarian assistance and advocacy. This also reveals a potential fragility: organisations created in response to emergencies face sustainability challenges, raising questions about their longevity and capacity to institutionalise beyond the immediate crisis. Those that do manage to institutionalise, demonstrate remarkable resilience, often sustaining activities through innovative resource mobilisation, strong community networks, and partnerships with other civil society actors. Most of these organisations operate with limited resources at the local level and prioritise meeting urgent needs such as housing, legal assistance, and social support, while challenging narratives that portray refugees as passive recipients of aid. Recognising and supporting this agency through targeted funding, capacity-building, and formal inclusion in policy processes is essential to strengthen humanitarian responses and promote inclusive governance processes.  

Econstor working paper here

Open access interactive dataset here