The Context of Immigrant Reception in the American South

Abstract

Past research has shown the Southern United States to have more conservative immigration attitudes compared to more established immigrant destination states. However, it is unclear whether or not the places that immigrants have arrived share these conservative attitudes and how this impacts the reception of immigrant groups. Analyzing the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, I find that U.S.-born White attitudes toward immigration are less conservative in zip codes where immigrant-origin groups in the South are most likely to live, often by substantial margins. This indicates that immigrant-origin groups in the South are likely to encounter Southern Whites with a more liberal orientation than Southern Whites more generally. The implications for how these attitudes compare to established immigrant destination states and counties are addressed in detail, as are Southern Black attitudes toward immigration. Regardless, on various questions approximating racial experience/understanding, immigrant-origin groups in the South do not report more negative feelings than those in established destinations and report more positive feelings in some cases, although these results could also indicate a lower awareness of racial issues. Overall, these findings point to a context of reception in the South that is likely more positive than past research on Southern immigration attitudes has implied.

Rebuilding Without Papers: Disaster Migration and the Local Reception of Immigrants After Hurricane Katrina

“…(Deckard et al‬ 2020; Estrada, Ebert, and Lore 2016; López-Sanders and Brown 2019; Padín 2005; Sohoni and‬ Sohoni 2014). While this scholarship demonstrates the complex and often negative‬ reception encountered by new arrivals (but see Maggio 2021), it also reveals that the context‬ of reception for immigrants can and does change over time (Jones 2019). ‬‬…”

“…Since the 1990s, immigrants from Latin America have moved beyond traditional immigrant gateways and settled in locations throughout the U.S. South, Midwest, and Northeast, regions that had not received large numbers of immigrants since the early 20 th century (Massey 2008;Singer et al 2008). These new migration patterns have prompted interest in how new destination communities receive, understand, and respond to Latinx immigrant newcomers (Lippard 2016;Maggio 2021). Much existing work probes the microlevel dynamics of community reception, finding that localized immigrant policies, institutions, and interactions shape immigrant incorporation in important ways (Jones 2019;Ribas 2015).…”

“…Existing research examines the characteristics of disaster migrants (Fussell 2009b) and their experiences with labor exploitation (Fletcher et al 2007; Hepburn 2012), but most work on the topic examines how disaster migration affects native-born worker wages, occupational structure, and community demographics (Bhula-or and Ikemoto 2014; How and Kerr 2019; Kugler and Yuksel 2008, 2008; Sisk and Bankston 2014). Despite a scholarly interest in the contexts of immigrant reception (Golash-Boza and Valdez 2018; Luthra, Soehl, and Waldinger 2018; Maggio 2021), comparatively less attention has been paid to how native-born communities receive and understand these new residents. Disaster migration is one mechanism by which immigrants arrive and settle in new destinations.…”