Immigration control and the white working class: explaining state-level laws in the US, 2005–2017

Abstract

Immigration control has emerged as a fiery partisan issue in American politics as evidenced by the controversies over policies of the Trump administration over the last four years. While legislative reform remains deadlocked at the federal level, a number of states have passed laws with reference to immigrants—documented or otherwise—within their boundaries. This study draws upon group threat theory to identify the factors affecting restrictive immigration laws at the state-level. Using cross-sectional time-series state-level data from 2005-2017, this study expands upon existing research in several important ways, including by investigating the effect of the non-Hispanic white working class. Results indicate that the passage of restrictive immigration legislation over the period of study was driven by increases in state-level inequality and increases in the size of the low-skilled white population. Implications for group threat theory are discussed.