The Response of White Americans to the Hispanic Immigrant Wave: The Role of Local Context

Despite being a purported “nation of immigrants,” America has a strain of anti-immigrant rhetoric dating back to the colonial period. Our current wave of Latino migration is just the newest chapter in this story. Many... [ view full abstract ]

Despite being a purported “nation of immigrants,” America has a strain of anti-immigrant rhetoric dating back to the colonial period. Our current wave of Latino migration is just the newest chapter in this story. Many areas in the US are, have become, or are becoming minority-majority. How do Whites in America react to shifts in local racial heterogeneity? My research uses a large scale survey: the Cooperative Congressional Election Study from 2006 to 2016. By joining survey data with the Census, I look at this with respect to the demographic and economic context of the states, counties, and zip codes that respondents live in. In areas of high Hispanic growth, do White Americans turn towards the Democratic or the Republican party? How do they vote in congressional or presidential elections when the candidate is Hispanic? Are White Americans in a Hispanic-heavy district more likely to vote for the Hispanic candidate? How does economic context such as unemployment and prosperity factor into this calculus? Immigration from Latin American countries add another layer to the complex and central role that race has in American politics.