What’s left unsaid? In-group solidarity and ethnic and racial differences in opposition to immigration in the United States

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ABSTRACTDo racial and ethnic characteristics of non-immigrants play an important role in shaping attitudes toward immigrants in the U.S.? Using a 2010 survey experiment representative of the U.S. general population, this paper examines differences in opposition to immigration by the race or ethnicity of the respondent. By manipulating the amount of anonymity offered to respondents, the experiment allows explicit opposition to be distinguished from implicit opposition, which offers unique insight into the extent to which opposition is masked. Consistent with theories of in-group solidarity, we find that Hispanics, who comprise nearly half of all immigrants in the U.S., overtly express a less restrictive posture, which, relative to Black and White respondents, is not significantly masked. In contrast, White and Black respondents only overtly express more openness to immigration. When offered absolute anonymity, opposition is significantly and substantively greater. The implications are profound in that differences in the extent to which opposition is masked, rather than overtly expressed, fundamentally patterns racial and ethnic differences in opposition to immigration in the U.S.