Understanding and Addressing Public Anxiety About Immigration

Papademetriou & Banulescu-Bogdan begin with the assumption that anxiety about immigration is not inevitable and that governments can take action to reduce it. They note that anxiety around immigration is a complex phenomenon and that it cannot be attributed to any single factor. For example, the authors point out that there is no consistent correlation between the actual size of the influx of immigrants and the response of the public in the receiving nation. They suggest five contextual factors that set the stage for public anxiety about immigration- 1) Sudden flows of immigrants that outpace the ability of the country or local community to receive them, 2) The perception that immigrants are competing with the native population for scare resources, 3) The feeling that immigrants do not share the values or identity of a receiving community, 4) Security fears shaped by the media that lead to a generalized mistrust of a particular immigrant community, and 5) The perception that the government is not equipped to handle the flow of immigration. The authors discuss each of these factors, examining how perceptions of conditions may differ from what data suggests. However, they urge governments to not simply write off these potential misperceptions and instead to address existing concerns by taking action, including simultaneously framing immigration as part of the national narrative and treating concerns about immigration as legitimate. They repeatedly suggest that when anxiety about immigration is ignored, people are more likely to gravitate to anti-immigrant parties and movements. (Erik Jacobson, Montclair State University)

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