Factors That Influence Public Opinion on Immigration

This paper examines the influences of several factors, as independent variables, on public opinion in the United States toward immigration to the United States, as a dependent variable. The data necessary to support the examinations was obtained from the American National Election Study (2000).

Among people for whom the potential for unemployment is a critical issue, the level of opposition to immigration tends to correlate well with the unemployment rate. Among people for whom the potential to become unemployed is not perceived to be high, opposition to immigration, where it exists, is not related to economic concerns (Krikorian, 2003).

One of the economic-based arguments made frequently by people opposed to immigration is that immigrants to the United States take jobs that otherwise would be filled by Americans. The implication of this economic-based argument is that immigration causes the work force to increase more rapidly than the economy can create net new jobs, thereby resulting in increased unemployment in the country (Simes, 2003). A counter argument put forward by many economists is that new immigrants also are a potential source of strength for the economy, because they tend to be young, innovative, and entrepreneurial (Anderson, 2003).

Some economists argue further that: (a) in times of rapid population growth, the effects of immigration on labor force growth are negligible; and (b) as population growth slows, so to

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e was performed. One independent variable was included in the crosstabulation. This variable was "New Morals Are Causing Societal Problems" (v1530) from the American National Election Study 2000. The variable measured respondents' agreement or disagreement with the statement: "The newer lifestyles are contributing to the breakdown of our society". Respondents' agreement or disagreement with the statement was measured on a five-point scale ranging from "Agree Strongly" to "Disagree Strongly". No recoding of this variable was performed. As indicated in Table 5 (see Appendix), there is a stronger bias among respondents who perceive a deterioration in the nation's social values for decreasing levels of immigration to the United States (49.2 percent) than exists among respondents who do not perceive such a deterioration (38.9 percent). This relationship, however, is weak (gamma = -.12). The relationship is, however, statistically significant (p = .00). Because the weak relationship is statistically significant, a control variable was introduced into the analysis. The control variable was "Respondent Gender" (v1029) from the American National Election Study 2000. Gender was categorized as "Female" or "Male". As indicated in

Category: Economics - F