Labour market competition and immigration attitudes in an established gateway

Abstract

ABSTRACTAlthough anti-immigrant sentiment is often attributed to economic competition with foreign-born workers, research has provided contradictory results. This paper combines survey and occupation data to re-examine the relationship between immigration attitudes and labour market competition in Houston, an established immigration gateway. I analyse data from multiple waves of the Houston Area Survey and the American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and O*NET. Results indicate that labour market competition is associated with preferences for reducing immigration in Houston. Those working in occupations with recent increases in the number of foreign-born workers, that require less education, and that have higher rates of unemployment are more likely to prefer to reduce future legal immigration, even after controlling for perceived economic and cultural threats. These results support other research at the occupation and industry levels and suggest that labour market competition is a factor in shaping immigration attitudes.