Swiss voters went to the polls Sunday and resoundingly rejected capping the country's rapidly growing population at 10 million by limiting immigration. Congratulations to the Swiss for staging a national conversation over immigration—something the United States urgently needs to do.

The Swiss have seen their population soar by more than 25 percent since 2000. The newcomers are, for the most part, workers from neighboring European countries, not migrants from the Middle East or Africa. Even so, the right-leaning Swiss People's Party pushed for immigration restrictions, arguing that such rapid population growth strained housing, social programs, and Swiss identity.

But opponents of the measure, who dubbed it a "Swiss Brexit," warned that stopping the free flow of Europeans into Switzerland would threaten its special relationship with the European Union, which buys over half of all Swiss exports.

Opponents also argued Switzerland has grown wealthy over many decades, despite a lack of natural resources, by attracting foreign innovators— including the immigrants who launched giant Swiss companies like Nestlé, Swatch and Novartis.

The United States should take a page from the Swiss and launch our own national conversation on immigration. Here, however, the critical issue is not just........

© Townhall