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Race and the Response of State Legislatures to Unauthorized Immigrants

Author

Listed:
  • Jorge M. Chavez

    (Department of Sociology at Bowling Green State University)

  • Doris Marie Provine

    (School of Justice and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University)

Abstract

Increasingly, state legislatures are enacting laws to regulate immigrant populations. What accounts for these responses to foreign-born residents? To explain legislative activity at the state level, the authors examine a variety of factors, including the size and growth of foreign-born and Hispanic local populations, economic well-being, crime rates, and conservative or liberal political ideology in state government and among the citizenry. The authors find that economic indicators, crime rates, and demographic changes have little explanatory value for legislation aimed at restrictions on immigrant populations. Rather, conservative citizen ideology appears to drive immigrant-related restrictionist state legislation. Meanwhile, proimmigrant laws are associated with larger Hispanic concentrations, growing foreign-born populations, and more liberal citizen and governmental orientations. These findings suggest that ideological framing is the most consistently important factor determining legislative responses to newcomers. These findings are in line with the relatively scarce empirical literature on legislative tendencies associated with vulnerable populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge M. Chavez & Doris Marie Provine, 2009. "Race and the Response of State Legislatures to Unauthorized Immigrants," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 623(1), pages 78-92, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:623:y:2009:i:1:p:78-92
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716208331014
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    Cited by:

    1. William D. Schreckhise & Daniel E. Chand, 2023. "Local implementation of U.S. federal immigration programs: context, control, and the problems of intergovernmental implementation," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(4), pages 797-823, December.
    2. Nichole Gligor & David Gligor, 2021. "A roadmap to understanding restrictive immigration policy outcomes," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(4), pages 1830-1847, July.

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