In his report, Jacques Toubon wrote: " our program is to create a centre of history and living memory, with a cultural vocation, installed in a central place with a strong identity, emblematic and full of history. Widely open to the general public and schools, conceived as a national reference point, but also as a hub of networks and actors, it will gather around it already existing initiatives to make them accessible to the entire French population. [...] Finally, this centre must be a living place, producer of cultural and artistic events showing the continuous enrichment of French culture by the contribution of immigration, in order to constitute an identity mark for France of the XXI^e century. "

Ten years have passed since the opening of the National Museum of the History of Immigration, but according to Benjamin Stora "the issues raised by this project are more than ever on the agenda. Through this book, which tells the story of the genesis of the museum, the interested reader will discover a dimension undoubtedly unknown in the recent history of public policies".