Documenting the unauthorized: Political responses to unauthorized immigration

Abstract

Cultural prejudice rather than self interest is the conventional wisdom for why voters respond negatively to immigration. Using a new measure of unauthorized immigrants based on self‐reported invalid social security numbers, we show that voters’ responses are more nuanced than mere prejudice against minorities. Using county level data from the U.S. state of Georgia, we find that voters in counties with above median levels of unauthorized workers are more likely to support the Republican Party. We also find that wealthier counties and wealthier voters are most likely to respond negatively to the unauthorized. Our evidence warns against arguments that depict opposition to immigration as motivated solely by xenophobia and cultural fears among lower income Whites.

The Mass Political Economy of Capital Controls

“…Large literatures show that voters have strong opinions about trade and immigration that reflect a mixture of their interests (Ardanaz, Murillo, & Pinto, 2013; Baker, 2005; Scheve & Slaughter, 2001) and values (Hainmueller & Hiscox, 2007; Hainmueller & Hopkins, 2015; Mansfield & Mutz, 2009). Voters’ exposure to international trade and immigration flows has also been found to have important electoral impacts (Baerg, Hotchkiss, & Quispe-Agnoli, 2018; Colantone & Stanig, 2018; Jensen, Quinn, & Weymouth, 2017; Margalit, 2011; Mayda, Peri, & Steingress, 2018). In short, trade and immigration are mass political issues.…”

In-migration and Dilution of Community Social Capital

“…Regardless of the mechanisms, this paper also touches on the issue of communities', particularly rural communities', sometimes hostile, objection to immigration (Schiff 2002;Manole and Schiff 2013) or "outsiders coming to their communities." Opposition to immigration is often found to be rooted in economic competition, cultural prejudice, and redistributive financial pressures (Baerg, Hotchkiss, and Quispe-Agnoli 2018). The results in this paper may imply that loss of community social capital is another source of opposition to immigration, but future research is needed to suggest a causal link.…”

In-Migration and Dilution of Community Social Capital

“…Regardless of the mechanism, this paper also offers an additional explanation for communities', sometimes hostile, objection to immigration (Schiff 2002;Manole and Schiff 2013). Opposition to immigration can be shown to be rooted in economic competition, cultural prejudice, and redistributive financial pressures (Baerg, Hotchkiss, and Quispe-Agnoli 2018).…”