Researchers report how proposals of state-level immigration policies influence feelings of inclusivity among immigrants and individuals born in the United States. Immigration policies have dominated national debates in the United States in recent years. However, the US Congress has been unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation, and state and regional policies largely influence attitudes toward immigration. Yuen J. Huo and colleagues assessed how local policy proposals influenced an individual's sense of belonging to their local community among foreign-born Latinos, US-born Latinos, and US-born Whites in New Mexico and Arizona. The study included more than 1,800 participants, 18-96 years of age, who responded to questions related to the proposal of welcoming or unwelcoming immigration policies in their home state in a telephone-based survey conducted in February and March of 2016. In both states, foreign-born and US-born Latinos expressed an increased sense of belonging after considering policies welcoming to immigrants, such as those including bilingual documents and social services for noncitizens, compared with unwelcoming policies, such as those including English-only laws and restricting access to social services for noncitizens. Moreover, white Americans, except for those who identified as politically conservative, largely reported similar patterns of belonging in response to welcoming immigrant policies. According to the authors, the findings suggest that institutional support for welcoming immigration policies might promote feelings of unity among immigrants and much of the native population in the United States.
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Article #17-11293: "Local policy proposals can bridge Latino and (most) white Americans' response to immigration," by Yuen J. Huo et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Yuen J. Huo, University of California, Los Angeles, CA; tel: 310-794-5305; e-mail: <huo@psych.ucla.edu>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences