Political Science

Chris Flores

Going against the Group? Exploring Restrictive Immigration Attitudes among Latinxs
2023–24 American Democracy Fellowship

Why do some Latinos support restrictive immigration policies that seemingly implicate Latinos as a group? While the attitudes of white Americans toward immigration have received significant scholarly attention, Latino support for inclusive immigration policies has often been taken for granted by campaigns and scholars alike. On the one hand, there is indeed considerable evidence demonstrating that Latines—and particularly Mexican Americans—mobilize in opposition to restrictive immigration policies. On the other hand, however, a nontrivial share of Latinos do support such policies, even after years of the GOP’s widely publicized anti-Latinx and anti-Mexican rhetoric. Understanding why some Latines support restrictive immigration policies is important on its own but also for understanding the future of multiracial party coalitions. I propose a series of survey experiments aimed at causally exploring four distinct—but not mutually exclusive—explanations for this puzzle: party identification, individual self-interest, national origin, and distancing due to stigma.