Group Threat and the Passage of Anti-Immigrant Legislation, 2006-2012

• In Event: Islamophobia, Immigration, and Social Control

Abstract

The 2016 presidential primaries and caucuses have once again brought concerns over immigration to national attention. While both sides of the political aisle have debated matters related to immigration, the opposition has been most strident on the Republican side, with leading marketing themselves on the degree to which they can “solve” the immigration “crisis” through ever tougher immigration reforms. Renewed calls for the building of a wall and the painting of immigrants as criminals and rapists once more underscore a native-born hostility to the foreign-born that last held a central place in the political discourse nearly a decade ago. The run up to the 2008 election offered many of the same anti-immigrant themes and saw them manifest in political policy. This analysis draws upon group-threat theory to identify and model the factors impacting states’ passage of anti-immigrant legislation. Results suggest that despite political rhetoric, neither the rate of immigration nor the rate of crime is a significant predictor of such legislation. Instead, consistent with group threat theory, the strongest predictors are measures of economic vulnerability and political ideology.

Authors

• Vincent Ferraro, Framingham State University

• Saran Ghatak, Keene State College