Anti-immigrant sentiment and hate: the past as prologue

Anti-immigrant sentiment and hate are striking features of modern US society. Yet contemporary attitudes and policies are linked to, if not rooted in, a deeper historical legacy of nativist and xenophobic opposition and discrimination against the foreign born. Indeed, immigrants have repeatedly been painted as cultural, economic, political, and criminal threats. In this chapter, we draw on threat perspectives to examine the sociocultural, economic, and political-legal dynamics surrounding three key periods of US immigration and anti-immigrant conflict: (1) 1880–1924, (2) 1965–1985, and (3) 2000–2023. For each period we consider foreign-born population composition, perceptions and racialization of newcomers, and state and national immigration policy. We also explore parallels across periods, consider how they unfold across major institutions, and examine dynamic intersections of race, nativity, and group relations. We conclude by discussing how anti-immigrant sentiment and hate have and continue to provoke marginalization, discrimination, and, taken to its extreme, violence targeting the foreign born.