Attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy

Recent immigration to the U.S. has significantly increased the nation's ethnoracial diversity. This demographic change prompts questions regarding intergroup relations and interracial conflict. With data from the General Social Survey, 1994 to 2004, I add to the discussion by examining native-born white public opinion toward immigrants and immigration policy. Specifically, I examine the power of a core network approach, which suggests that individuals' personal contacts influence immigration attitudes, and a symbolic racism framework, which argues that whites develop relatively stable values and beliefs during childhood and adulthood about the personal limitations and costs of immigrants. Multilevel models and logistic regression models indicate that core networks consisting of higher levels of education and non-white contacts influence native-born whites to hold a pro-immigrant attitude, while older and tighter networks have the opposite effect. At the same time, core networks also condition the impact of group threat and intergroup contact on immigration attitudes, suggesting that the interpersonal environment and broader social environment interact during opinion formation. Furthermore, symbolically racist native-born whites are more likely to hold anti-immigrant opinions, independent of their feelings of labor market competition. Thus, social policy that considers the interpersonal environment as well as the broader institutional environment in which native-born whites are embedded may offer more effective directives in achieving positive native-born and foreign-born relations.