Enemies of the state? Testing three models of anti-immigrant sentiment

In recent years, instances of nativist, anti-immigrant sentiment have spread beyond traditional border states into “new destination” cities and towns throughout the North and Southeast. Virginia, the site for many of the most reactionary forms of anti-immigrant ordinances, is one case in point. In this paper we use data from the 2007 Virginia Survey of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment (N = 1072) conducted on the eve of the US Senate deliberations over immigration reform. Our analysis uses fixed effects models to evaluate the explanatory power of three of the dominant explanations of anti-immigrant sentiment: group threat, contact, and cultural perspectives. Our findings reveal two key points. First, although we do find scattered evidence in support of the contact and group threat approaches, evidence affirming the cultural approach seems particularly strong. Second, variables emphasized by these separate models interact in significant and interesting ways, suggesting the need to integrate these competing perspectives into fuller and more powerful models that specify how local cultural characteristics moderate the effects of macro-structural conditions.