Lessons in Democracy: America's Tenuous History with Immigrants

Taking an uncompromising stance on immigration enforcement, the Trump administration has been sharply criticized for its policies and racially coded rhetoric of immigrants as criminals or undesirables. Despite this criticism, the administration's policies fall in line with historically widespread, exclusionary, nativist and xenophobic attitudes towards immigrants. Much of the American immigrant story has been a tortuous struggle for equality, integration and civil rights. This essay takes a critical look at the complicated history of immigration policy during the last century, focusing on the social, economic and political forces that helped shape legislation.     

Demanding an ‘adequate solution:’ the American Legion,the Immigration Act of 1924, and the politics of exclusion

This article analyses the American Legion’s role in developing a discourse of exclusion surrounding the Immigration Act of 1924. The Legion strategically used the political rhetoric of states’ rights and federalism in addition to racist and nativist language to emphasise the need for increased federal restrictions on immigration. The arguments found in the Legion’s resolutions, pamphlets and testimony to Congress place the organisation’s emphasis on the political disruptions caused by Japanese migrants within the context of evolving immigration reform. The Legion’s activism in exclusion contributes to an understanding of the history of states’ rights and federalism tropes in anti-immigrant arguments during the twentieth century.     

Exploring the Contextual Determinants of Individual Attitudes toward Immigrants and Criminal Activity and their Spillover Policy Implications

Immigrants are routinely tied to a range of social problems in the policy making process in the US political system. Little is known however about the extent to which citizens hold attitudes that connect immigrants to particular social problems and whether these attitudes spill over to influence citizens’ preferences toward specific public policy alternatives that might appear to be largely independent of immigrants and immigration. Investigating the nexus between immigration and crime, we ask how Anglo whites’ contextual environments influence their propensity to link immigrants to a salient social pathology like crime. Results show that whites living in states where immigrant populations have increased most dramatically and in states with lower socioeconomic characteristics are more likely to associate immigration with increased criminal activity. Whites’ attitudes toward immigration‐induced crime has important spillover implications to the larger public policy making process as whites who view immigrants as a cause of criminal activity are more likely to support tougher criminal sentencing and the death penalty.     

Migration,Motherhood, Marriage: Cross‐Cultural Adaptation of North American Immigrant Mothers in Israel

This study probes the cross‐cultural adaptation patterns of North American women who immigrated to Israel with their Israeli‐born husbands (or married there) and are mothers in their new country. In order to undertake a cultural analysis of the interplay between immigration, motherhood and bicultural marriage, we examine: the effects of motherhood and North American culture of origin on cross‐cultural adaptation; the effects of immigration to Israel on motherhood and childrearing; the influence of family of origin on the immigrant motherhood experience; and the role of Israeli husbands and their families in the women’s cross‐cultural adaptation process. We study patterns for the entire group as well as bringing out individual differences. Our main finding is that motherhood serves as the principal social link to the Israeli host society. The high status of North American culture and English proficiency facilitate cross‐cultural adaptation in Israel. Our findings reveal transnationalist tendencies co‐existing with various adaptation strategies. We propose an expansion of previous acculturation models to accommodate this dual modus vivendi.     

Risk Preferences and Immigration Attitudes: Evidence from Four East Asian Countries

Economic interests, such as increased job market competition or tax burden in the host countries, often explain attitudes toward immigration. Some empirical studies that have adopted this economic perspective report, however, that an individual's economic circumstances are not directly linked to his or her attitudes toward immigration, emphasizing that people can have different interpretations even under the same circumstances. We argue that risk preferences (i.e., willingness to take risks) shape personal perceptions about the costs and benefits of immigrant workers in the job market and immigration. Using the 2008 East Asian Social Survey from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, we find that individuals who like to take more risks are more likely to be positive about immigration. Our study indicates the importance of psychological tendency in the formation of native citizens' attitudes toward immigration.     

Attitudes of Mexican Americans toward irregular immigration

This inquiry focuses on the attitudes of 314 Mexican Americans toward issues relating to current US immigration policy. Telephone and personal interviews were conducted in Hidalgo and Travis counties, Texas, with Mexican-Americans. Virtually all respondent groups oppose an increased rate of immigration, consider illegal immigration to be an important problem, support stricter enforcement of immigration laws, and believe that undocumented workers take jobs no one else wants. Half of the respondents identify illegal immigration as a regional rather than a personal problem. At the same time, the data suggest significant differences in both direction and intensity of attitudes between Mexican Americans of different generations, income, occupational levels, and region. There is general opposition to the requirement of a national identity card, but widespread support for penalizing employers of undocumented workers and for granting amnesty to undocumented workers. These findings allow an examination of the extent to which the Mexican American leadership, which has been overwhelmingly opposed to the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, accurately reflects the views of the Mexican American people. The leadership and the population at large agree on 2 of the 3 issues, amnesty and the national identity card, but disagree on employer sanctions. 1st, it may be that the leadership holds the kinds of jobs for which undocumented workers are unlikely to compete, so they may not feel threatened. 2nd, they may feel that instituting employer sanctions will create incentives for employers to discriminate in their hiring practices against all Latino-looking job applicants. Non-elite Mexican Americans who support employer sanctions may believe that the only way they can compete for jobs is to make it impossible for elites to be hired. Both groups appear to fear that, regardless of the specifics of immigration reform, Mexican Americans are likely to encounter increased discrimination in the job market.     

American Attitudes toward Guest Worker Policies

In this study we use data from a 2004 New York Times/CBS News national survey to analyze public opinion toward a guest worker program and to compare predictors of support for guest worker and general immigration policies. In general, Americans tend to be divided in their attitudes toward a guest worker program, although support for temporary worker policies is stronger when legalization for unauthorized immigrants is conditioned on certain requirements, and when the program is coupled with enhanced border security. The results of the bivariate probit analysis indicate that individuals who favor reducing the immigration level also tend to oppose instituting a guest worker program. Perceptions of the “costs” of immigration emerged as the most important determinant of individuals’ attitudes toward immigration policies; such beliefs contributed to opposition to a guest worker policy and support for reducing the immigration level. We also found that residents of high‐immigration states and Latinos were more likely to support a temporary worker program. However, these characteristics do not appear to influence individuals’ judgments about the number of immigrants who should be admitted to the United States. Findings regarding the impact of political partisanship and ideology on attitudes toward the two policies were more ambiguous.     

Minutewomen,Victims, and Parasites: The Discursive and Performative Construction of Women by The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps

This study uses data from 40 interviews and 80 hours of participant observation to examine the discursive and performative (embodied, enacted, and nonverbal) position of women in twenty‐first‐century militia–nativist organizations, using the case study of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC). The case of the MCDC demonstrates that the organization produces competing narratives for understanding the role of white and migrant women in U.S. society. White American women are constructed as victims of immigration, while white women within the organization are viewed as capable colleagues. Migrant women are produced as both parasites on American society and victims of Mexican male sexuality. As this article shows, women's demands for agency, their political drives, their ascribed race, and their intentions shape their discursive production.     

Immigration Attitudes Before and After Tragedy in Copenhagen: The Importance of Political Affiliation and Safety Concerns

This research analyzes attitudes on immigration before and after the February 14–15, 2015 Copenhagen shootings. Little research has been conducted on changes in immigration beliefs pre‐ and postcrisis events, and, further, this research has not closely considered how political views and safety concerns may operate within immigration beliefs in an additive, interactive, or mediating fashion. Using the 2014 and 2015 Copenhagen Area Surveys, the latter conducted shortly after the February shootings, our findings show that taking the survey either before or after the shootings did not shape immigration policy preferences. Instead, the findings reveal that right‐leaning political affiliation and a greater fear of crime are the strongest predictors of anti‐immigration attitudes. Implications center on new approaches to understanding societal responses to crisis events.     

Whites’ Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy: Are Multiracial Individuals a Source of Group Threat or Intergroup Contact?

This study uses multilevel modeling with data from the 2010 U.S. Census and the Pew Research Center’s 2006 and 2011 surveys to examine the relationship between the relative size of the multiracial population, specifically mixed-race whites, in metropolitan areas and the immigration attitudes of native-born non-Hispanic whites. The results indicate that whites who live in metropolitan areas with higher percentages of mixed-race whites are more likely to hold comparatively immigrant-friendly attitudes in general and specifically toward immigration levels, taxes, and employment, supporting contact theory. With increases in the multiracial population, whites are likely to adopt a more complex conception of race over time, leading to context-specific and topic-centered attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy.     

El Miedo y El Hambre: Understanding the Familial,Social, and Educational Realities of Undocumented Latino Families in North Central Indiana

This study explored how different ecological factors, within and outside the family, affected the educational success of the children of undocumented families. The sample consisted of 63 immigrant Latino parents (40 families) who resided in North Central Indiana. This study utilized an ethnographic research design. Findings demonstrated that immigration laws were affecting the educational success of the children of undocumented families. Most parents expressed lack of familiarity of the American educational system and that they had culture and language barriers. Findings also demonstrated that undocumented families were adapting to their realities, as a result of the resiliency in their families and communities. Implications for practice and future research were provided.     

Different Game,Different Frame?: Black Counterdiscourses and Depictions of Immigration in Atlanta's African‐American and Mainstream Press

This article compares the discourse on immigration found in Atlanta's African‐American press (Atlanta Daily World) to that found in Atlanta's mainstream press (Atlanta Journal‐Constitution). The Daily World's black counterdiscourse situates immigration within a racial frame, discussing Latinos and immigrants interchangeably and casting African Americans as deserving yet excluded citizens. Immigrants appear in the Daily World as either allies in the struggle for civil rights or as competitors for jobs. Although the Daily World crime frames focus on concerns about racial profiling, the Journal‐Constitution often depicts immigrants as criminals or discusses immigration in terms of legal status and policy.     

Uncovering European Union Immigration Legislation: Policy Dynamics and Outcomes

The member states of the European Union (EU) have recently experimented with constructing a common immigration policy. This gives rise to an important and fascinating question: what happens to immigration policy once it is no longer made in national capitals? Have national governments been able to retain ultimate control over the field of EU immigration policy? Or do we see slippage towards supranational power, with the Commission, Parliament, and Court of Justice expanding their influence? If EU institutions have gained power, do they use this power to defend the rights and freedoms of immigrants against restrictionist national governments? Using participant interviews (listed in Appendix I ) and documentary analysis, I analyse negotiations over three EU immigration laws: the directives on family reunification, long‐term residence, and economic migration. I assess whether national preferences are implemented in these directives, or whether supranational institutions have moved policy away from national preferences, potentially expanding immigrant rights and freedoms.     

Explaining Attitudes towards Self-employment among Immigrants: A Canadian Case Study

Implicit in Canada's immigration policies is that some immigrants are endowed with a particular entrepreneurial spirit, and that this spirit relates to immigrants’ origin. This paper examines whether attitudes towards entrepreneurship indeed relate to origin, or whether they can be explained through labour market circumstances at the place of settlement and/or Canada's immigrant selection procedure. The empirical study focuses on the reported attitudes towards entrepreneurship. A survey of 509 Vancouver residents of a predominantly Chinese immigrant neighbourhood, a predominantly South Asian immigrant neighbourhood, and a neighbourhood of non‐immigrants reveals that ethnic origin is a weak indicator of entrepreneurial attitudes. Instead, urban or rural background emerges as a more powerful predictor. The results also raise doubts about whether the Canadian government's immigration policy, which selects immigrants on the basis of economic potential, indeed selects immigrants with a greater desire to become self‐employed. Furthermore, the amount of time immigrants have spent in Canada does not significantly affect attitudes towards entrepreneurship.     

Labour Market Limbo: The Uneven Integration of Co‐Ethnic Argentine Immigrants in Spain

Immigration and citizenship laws that discriminate by race, ethnicity, and national origins are increasingly illegitimate in contemporary democracies, yet laws that grant privileged access and membership to immigrants who share natives' ethnicity persist. This enduring positive selection rests upon the assumption that co‐ethnicity fosters integration. Countering this logic, this article centers on co‐ethnics' insertion into local labour markets. It draws from a case study of Aguaviva, Spain, a depopulating village in which both co‐ethnic Argentines and Romanian immigrants reside. The analysis qualifies the trend of deracialization in immigration and citizenship policy and shows that positive preferences do not uniformly foster integration. In dual labour market systems, co‐ethnics struggle because they are not different enough for secondary sector jobs reserved for immigrant “others,” yet in the primary sector they enter into direct competition with natives.     

Factors affecting infant toy preferences: Age,gender, experience,motor development,and parental attitude

In contrast to the anecdotal claim that “male infants like cars and female infants like dolls,” previous studies have reported mixed findings for gender‐related toy preferences in infancy. In Experiment 1, we explored the emergence of gender‐related preferences using face–car pairs (Experiment 1a, n = 51, 6–20 months) or face–stove pairs (Experiment 1b, n = 54, 6–20 months). In Experiment 2 (n = 42, 14–16 months), we explore the effect of toy properties, infants' past toy exposure, activity levels, and parental attitudes on such preferences using a wider range of toys. For both studies, infants demonstrated a general preference for faced stimuli over other objects, except for male infants who showed no preference between dolls and cars at around 15 months. Infants' prior experience participating in motor‐intensive activities, with wheeled toys and parental attitudes appeared to relate to female infants' preferences for dynamic toys. These results indicate a range of factors influence gendered toy preferences and suggest that nurture plays an important role.     

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Sex and Romance in Asexuals

Despite the recent surge of interest in sexuality, asexuality has remained relatively underresearched. Distinct from abstinence or chastity, asexuality refers to a lack of sexual attraction toward others. Past research suggests asexuals have negative attitudes toward sex, though no research has examined implicit attitudes. While preliminary evidence suggests that many asexuals are interested in engaging in romantic relationships, these attitudes have yet to be examined thoroughly, implicitly, or compared with a control group. This study investigated explicit and implicit attitudes toward sex and romance in a group of asexuals (N = 18, age M = 21.11) and a group of controls (N = 27, age M = 21.81), using the Asexuality Identification Scale (AIS), the Triangular Love Scale (TLS), semantic differentials, an Implicit Association Task (IAT), and two Single Category IATs. It was found that asexuals exhibited more negative explicit and implicit attitudes toward sex, as well as more negative explicit attitudes toward romance, relative to controls. There was no significant difference between groups on implicit romantic attitudes. Moreover, aromantic asexuals demonstrated significantly more negative explicit attitudes toward romance than romantic asexuals, though there was no significant difference between groups on implicit measures. Explanations and implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Function of Acculturation and Collective Self-Esteem on Prejudicial Attitudes among Vietnamese American Young Adults

ABSTRACT

This study examined the influence of collective self-esteem and acculturation on prejudicial attitudes in a sample of Vietnamese American young adults. A total of 122 college students from a public university in Southern California were given the Collective Self-Esteem Scale, the Vietnamese Acculturation Scale, and the Quick Discrimination Index. Results suggest that students who were more involved in U.S. culture and had both higher public collective self-esteem (i.e., the belief that their cultural groups were perceived positively by others) and higher private collective self-esteem (i.e., the individuals' private evaluation about their cultural groups) tended to have fewer prejudicial attitudes. Interestingly, results also reveal that students who were more involved in Vietnamese culture and had higher membership collective self-esteem (i.e., the belief in how well they perform in their cultural groups) tended to have more prejudicial attitudes. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

The political consequences of contemporary immigration

This article synthesizes research on political outcomes associated with increasing immigration, with an emphasis on cross‐national studies of European countries, where immigration is a relatively newer phenomenon compared to the United States and other traditional immigrant destinations. We begin with explanations of and research on anti‐immigrant sentiment, not a political phenomenon in itself but considered an important precursor to other relevant political attitudes. Next, we review scholarship on the relationship between immigration and support for the welfare state, as well as exclusionary attitudes regarding immigrants' rights to welfare benefits. Then, we review research on immigration and political party preferences, in particular radical right parties, whose platforms often combine anti‐immigration and welfare chauvinistic positions. We conclude by discussing how these processes may ultimately shape social policies, which may in turn influence immigration itself.     

African-American attitudes towards United States immigration policy

In the growing US debate over immigration policy since the 1980s, it is often argued that immigration must be restricted in order to protect Black Americans from competition with newly arrived immigrants. Findings are reported upon Black Americans' attitudes toward immigration policy. An extensive review of more than 50 Black newspapers and magazines, from January 1994 to June 1996, uncovered attitudes both in favor of and against restricting immigration. The majority of articles in the Black press on immigration, however, were nonrestrictionist. The Black political leadership is also against restricting immigration. Furthermore, a review of the 14 most recent national opinion polls on immigration available to the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research as of July 1996 found that while many Blacks favor restricting immigration, all US Blacks should not be characterized as restrictionist, especially when compared with Whites. Historical attitudes among US Blacks dating back to before the abolition of slavery are discussed.