The political preoccupation with immigrants and integration is deeply entangled with issues regarding the very construction and reproduction of the nation. Since the nineteenth century, nation-states have positioned themselves as the principal units of political belonging, tightly linking citizenship, identity, and territory. In modern nation-building processes, the boundaries of inclusion have been historically shaped by competing visions of the nation. On the one hand, the literature states that civic models of the nation have emphasised shared legal and political commitments. In contrast, ethnic models have drawn boundaries based on descent, culture, or religion. However, these dichotomies, often presented as mutually exclusive, fail to capture the complex and evolving logics through which nations define “the people.” Contemporary politics of integration continue to mobilize both civic and ethnic criteria in defining who can fully belong, often in contradictory ways. This interplay becomes especially salient in times of heightened migration, when the visibility of difference is politicized, and narratives of national identity are actively reshaped.