Immigration Debate

Watch Vanderbilt University professor of political science Efrén Pérez analyze the debate surrounding both legal and illegal immigration and the impact its having on Latino voters. Perez also discusses why immigration should be more of an economic issue than a social one.

Latinos who strongly identify with their ethnicity – or high identifiers – react to being targeted by a politician like Trump by undertaking political efforts to restore the status of their group. Low identifiers go the other way, tending to give up efforts to bolster their group’s status.

Most of the reactions described above manifest most strongly in foreign-born immigrants, and then weaken as the generations go by, Pérez said.

“This suggests that politics can limit the incorporation of immigrant groups into America’s political and cultural mainstream,” Pérez said. “The assimilation of immigrant groups can be facilitated through politics – and, it can be made much more difficult just as well.”
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