White Racial Identity and Preferences for (Non) White Immigrants in the United States

Abstract

Fueled by decades of immigration, the United States is on a path to becoming a “majority-minority” nation, in which non-Hispanic Whites no longer represent a majority of the population. Such demographic changes have prompted a reexamination of White Americans’ racial attitudes, particularly regarding whether a politically consequential sense of racial in-group solidarity or “White identity” has emerged. Recent work shows that such a White identity has indeed emerged and that it is powerfully linked with opposition to immigration. However, we know little about whether the relationship between White identity and immigration support varies across groups. Specifically, it is not clear whether White identity is uniquely “activated” by Latino/Hispanic immigrants, a large and fast-growing minority group, and (2) how White identity is linked to support for allowing immigration from Europe, a region of the world that is predominantly White. I test this using panel data from the 2016–2018 Voter Study Group (VSG) survey. I find that White identity is associated, to an approximately equal degree, with opposition to immigration from: Africa, China, India, Mexico/Latin America, and the Middle East, but that White identity is not significantly associated with support for increased immigration from Europe. Overall, these findings help us to better understand the nature of American public opinion toward immigration and the political consequences of White racial identity in a changing America.