In this second of the two part article on the recent rise of anti-immigrant sentiments around the world, we discuss the root causes of these sentiments. In the first part, we surveyed the current trends focusing on what has happened around the globe in the last few years.
The Roots of Anti-Immigrant Views
Fear of Outsiders
In many cases, an us vs. them mentality fuels resistance to immigration. According to some theory, the very idea of a nation results in the desire to keep immigrants out. In order to define itself, draw borders, and develop a unified sense of national identity, a nation needs to distinguish between itself and the rest of the world. When we decide who belongs, who deserves the resources and pride of a country, we simultaneously decide who does not. Immigration is often viewed as a threat because it introduces new people and customs that compete with the common identity and way of life at the heart of the nation or community.
Similarly, psychological studies find that strong nationalism and certain feelings of patriotism are often associated with stronger resistance to immigration. If people perceive immigrants as a threat of some sort, this relationship between nationalism or patriotism and resistance to immigration becomes even stronger. Essentially, the more people believe their country is the best and deserves devotion and protection, the more any concern about new immigrants threatening their country will drive them to resist immigration.
In many ways this resistance boils down to fearing people who are different. People bond with others like them and avoid and fear those who are different, whether in skin color, language, religion, or place of birth. We focus on our own communities, worried that outsiders are dangerous competition, or simply not our responsibility to provide for. Certainly things like unity, pride in your homeland, and a sense of belonging are not always negative. However, the consequences to those who happen to be born outside a particular group can be severe. Patriotism does not always mean being anti-immigration, though. People who are proud of their country but don’t think their country is superior to others are somewhat more open to immigration. And even those who are against immigration may change their opinions when they learn new information about immigrants.
The human fear of “outsiders” has roots in evolutionary biology. Studies suggest that the behavioral immune system is wired to make humans avoid strangers and unusual stimuli. This behavioral adaptation works to minimize exposure to sickness and unfamiliar disease, keeping people healthy. If this seems silly, consider that 90% of Native Americans died from smallpox and other European diseases after white settlers arrived in the Americas. Foreign diseases can be deadly. With today’s modern medicine and ever-globalizing world, however, this biological reaction may end up encouraging racism more than protecting anyone’s health.
Immigrants as Scapegoats
Many oppose immigration because they assume immigrants threaten jobs or national safety. While these are serious and understandable concerns, they may not be well placed. In the U.S., neither documented nor undocumented immigrants have higher crime rates than native born citizens. In fact, they may actually be less likely to commit crimes. Furthermore, unemployment is not caused by immigration, nor is it solved by stopping immigration. Regardless of the facts, people who are anxious about unemployment or crime rates tend to want an explanation for their problems.
For this reason, people throughout history have used immigrants as scapegoats for other problems. Blaming a specific group for a country’s troubles and giving a face to the people’s problems unifies and reassures citizens in times of economic or political strife. Not only can we then point to a cause of our struggles, we start to believe if that other group—often immigrants—is exterminated, punished, or kept out of the country, our problems will be solved. Then we will be safe, well-fed, gainfully employed, and protected in our way of life. In both economic and safety matters, narratives of immigration-based problems and solutions often feed general panic about immigration, despite having no basis in facts. Take, for example, the common rallying cry in the U.S. that immigrants are stealing jobs from native-born Americans: data actually shows no correlation between immigration and unemployment. Or look at the people from many countries wanting to expel all immigrants originating from certain places, simply because a small number of them have committed violent crimes.
Regulating and Limiting Immigration
Resistance to immigration does not mean resistance to all immigration at all times. Many feel that some immigration is fine, so long as the number of immigrants stays low and all of the immigration is legal. While this may seem reasonable, supporters of this position tend to ignore details of history and the evolution of immigration laws. For most of human existence, there was no such thing as legal or illegal immigration, simply the movement of people in search of food, territory, wealth, or opportunity. With regards to the United States, the famous explorers and national founders we celebrate in history books today were not subject to immigration laws, quotas, or well-defined borders. In fact, they claimed already inhabited land and killed or displaced many of the Native Americans living here. There were no immigration quotas until the early 20th century, and several more decades passed before our current system took shape. Today, the ability to immigrate to the United States varies widely by country of origin, family ties to the country, educational and financial resources, and more. Applying for citizenship, permanent residency, or even a visitor’s visa can be expensive and time consuming, and not everyone who applies will be successful.
Those who want to limit immigration often rely on the notion that unwanted immigrants can and should “go home” to their country of origin. This unwelcoming outlook ignores the plight of many of the world’s immigrants, erasing the violence, poverty, and oppression that prompt so many to leave the places they know in search of a better life. The case studies discussed above offer some examples of the immigrants who have fled their country of origin and do not have a safe home to return to, or who for all intents and purposes are already home. Many of the DACA recipients in the U.S. left their country of birth as small children and only know home as the U.S. The Rohingya from Myanmar are told to “go home” even when they are in the country where they, their parents, and their grandparents were born. Those who want immigrants to go home are not usually thinking about the hardship it will cause immigrants to leave—they just want them gone.
While immigrants around the world vary widely in their backgrounds and experiences, nearly every country seems to have some base of resistance to immigration. This resistance is often based in the majority population’s’ concerns about themselves: their own safety, economic well being, and ability to continue their way of life. These fears and arguments against immigration are encouraged by many things—from the basic definition of our countries to political scapegoating, from blind patriotism to the evolutionary roots of our biology. While the extent of anti-immigrant sentiment in the world today may seem overwhelming, resistance is not the only reaction to immigrants, and despite it all the tide of immigration continues to ebb and flow across the globe.