Editing Progress Party (Norway) (section)

=== Immigration ===
From the second half of the 1980s, the economic and welfare aspects of immigration policy were mainly a focus of Progress Party criticism, including the strains placed by immigration on the [[welfare state]].{{Sfn|Hagelund|2005|p=149}} During the 1990s the party shifted to focus more on cultural issues and conflicts,{{Sfn|Simonsen|2007|p=15}}{{Sfn|Skjørestad|2008|p=15}} a development which can also be seen in the general public debate, including among its political opponents.{{Sfn|Hagelund|2005|p=149}} In 1993, it was the first party in Norway to use the notion of "integration politics" in its party programme.{{Sfn|Hagelund|2005|p=155}} While the party has made numerous proposals on immigration in parliament, it has rarely received majority support for them.{{Sfn|Hagelund|2005|p=147}} Its proposals has largely been rejected by the remaining political parties, as well as the mass media.{{Sfn|Hagelund|2005|p=148}} Although the party's immigration policies have been compared to those of the [[Danish People's Party]] and the [[Sweden Democrats]], leading party members have rather chosen to compare its immigration policies with those of the Dutch [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] and the Danish {{Lang|da|[[Venstre (Denmark)|Venstre]]|italic=no}}, when those parties were in government.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://svt.se/2.35188/1.1699196/|work=[[Sveriges Television]]|title=Fremskrittspartiet knappast en förebild för Sverigedemokraterna|first1=Per Arne|last1=Olsen|first2=Kristian|last2=Norheim|date=7 September 2009|access-date=28 September 2010|language=sv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612090142/http://svt.se/2.35188/1.1699196/|archive-date=12 June 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Sylvi Listhaug.jpg|thumb|[[Sylvi Listhaug]] served as Norway's first Minister of Immigration and Integration (2015–2018).]]
Generally, the party wants a stricter immigration policy, so that only those who are in need of protection according to the [[Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees|UN Refugee Convention]] are allowed to stay in Norway.<ref name="vimener">{{cite web|url=http://www.frp.no/no/Vi_mener/|title=Vi mener: Asyl- og innvandringspolitikk|access-date=27 August 2010|language=no|publisher=FrP.no|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804052714/http://www.frp.no/no/Vi_mener/|archive-date=4 August 2010}}</ref> Progress Party MPs have also stated that high levels of immigration combined with poor integration leads to both Norwegian and broadly Western values such as tolerance, freedom of speech and democracy being undermined and that politicians on the political left have enabled social issues through relaxing immigration policies.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nordlys.no/nyheter/article3491530.ece|work=[[Nordlys]]|first=Danny J.|last=Pellicer|date=22 April 2008|title=Free Per-Willy|access-date=16 September 2010|language=no}}</ref> In a speech in the 2007 election campaign, Siv Jensen claimed that the immigration policy was a failure because it let criminals stay in Norway, while throwing out people who worked hard and followed the law.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/politikk/article1932677.ece|work=[[Aftenposten]]|first=Gunnar|last=Magnus|title=Jensen vil beholde lovlydige utlendinger|date=12 August 2007|access-date=8 September 2010|language=no|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629144648/http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/politikk/article1932677.ece|archive-date=29 June 2011}}</ref> The party claims the immigration and integration policy to be naïve.<ref name="vimener"/> In 2008, the party wanted to "avoid [[illiterate]]s and other poorly resourced groups who we see are not able to adapt in Norway"; which included countries as [[Somalia]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]].<ref name="aft070408">{{Cite news|url=http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article2352627.ece|title=Frp vil stenge grensen|work=[[Aftenposten]]|first=Kristoffer|last=Rønneberg|date=7 April 2008|access-date=11 November 2009|language=no}}</ref> The party opposes that asylum seekers are allowed stay in Norway on humanitarian grounds or due to health issues, and seeks to substantially limit the number of [[family reunification]]s.<ref name="aft070408"/> The party has also called for a [[referendum]] on the general immigration policy.<ref name="aft279"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/norsk-politikk/artikkel.php?artid=10001421|work=[[Verdens Gang]]|title=Frp: – Fullt mulig å stanse innvandringen|first=Erlend|last=Skevik|date=9 June 2010|access-date=27 August 2010|language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/article2925141.ece|work=[[Nettavisen]]|title=En av fem vil være innvandrer|first=Trond|last=Lepperød|date=15 June 2010|access-date=27 August 2010|language=no}}</ref> In government, the party supported creating a Minister for Integration in the cabinet and a zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration combined with deportation of illegal immigrants and non-citizens who had committed serious felonies. Some commentators noted that Norway deported a record number of failed asylum seekers and illegal residents during the period when the party provided support to the Conservatives from 2013 to 2021.<ref name="auto1"/>

The Progress Party is also opposed to repatriating Norwegian citizens who leave the country to join terrorist organisations such as [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]] and withdrew their support to the Solberg cabinet in January 2020 over the government's decision to repatriate a Norwegian national on humanitarian grounds who had escaped to join ISIS.<ref name="auto"/>

A poll conducted by ''[[Utrop]]'' in August 2009 showed that 10% (14% if the respondents answering "Don't know" are removed) of immigrants in Norway would vote for the Progress Party, only beaten by the Labour Party (38% and 56% respectively), when asked.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.utrop.no/Nyheter/Innenriks/16990|title=Flere innvandrere stemmer FrP|work=[[Utrop]]|first=Claudio|last=Castello|date=1 September 2009|access-date=11 November 2009|language=no}}</ref> More specifically, this constituted 9% of both African and Eastern European immigrants, 22% of Western European immigrants and 3% of Asian immigrants.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/valg-2009/artikkel.php?artid=578236|title=Innvandrere stemmer Frp – som folk flest|work=[[Verdens Gang]]|first=Lars|last=Akerhaug|date=1 September 2009|access-date=27 August 2010|language=no}}</ref> Politicians with immigrant background are increasingly active in the party, most notably Iranian-Norwegian [[Mazyar Keshvari]] and former leader of the youth party, Indian-Norwegian [[Himanshu Gulati]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/03/02/nyheter/islam/siv_jensen/fremskrittspartiet/innenriks/5103122/|title=Snikislamiserer Frp|work=[[Dagbladet]]|first=Gunnar|last=Thorenfeldt|date=9 March 2009|access-date=27 August 2010|language=no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/politikk/partiene/fremskrittspartiet/article3088740.ece|title=Hva gjør disse i Fremskrittspartiet?|work=[[Aftenposten]]|first=Geir|last=Salvesen|date=24 May 2009|access-date=27 August 2010|language=no|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629124001/http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/politikk/partiene/fremskrittspartiet/article3088740.ece|archive-date=29 June 2011}}</ref>