Our Side of the Fence: New Nativism and the Immigrant as Threat in the United States

• In Event: 378 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session II
  In Refereed Roundtable: B. Table 02. Race, Culture, and Conflict

Abstract

This study examines the new nativism movement in the United States. Specifically I look at groups who have formed in Arizona to combat illegal crossings over the U.S.-Mexico border. The new nativism arises from the perceived inability of the government to secure the border from illegal crossing. I draw on group threat theory to distinguish various threats undocumented immigrants may pose to American society. I conduct semi-structured interviews and engage in participate observation in the Sonoran desert with the Arizona Border Defenders, to identify how these groups think about immigrants and the potential threat they pose to society. In addition to the qualitative methods, I employ a survey to group members to gauge the commonality between their views and the general public. Having gained a limited sample, I use t-tests to determine a significant difference between their means and use descriptive statistics to bolster the explanations provided from the interviews and participant observations. These groups respond to the threat of undocumented immigrants and their potential harm to the U.S. society. I provide a critical assessment of the views group members hold to determine three main categories; mistaken beliefs, exaggerated truths, and genuine concerns. I propose we look at these groups as important contributors to border security and to look past previous labels to expand our knowledge about these groups characterize and label undocumented immigrants.

Author

• Candace Elaine Griffith, West Virginia University