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TITLE: Immigration, Social Diversity, and Policy Support: An Exploratory Foray

AUTHORS: Max Neiman and Douglas Strand

PAGES: 34      DATE: May 2006

ABSTRACT: In recent years, increasing social diversity in the United States has become primarily a function of rising levels of immigration and more widespread distribution of immigrant populations. What this means in some geographic locations is that the relative proportion of non-Hispanic whites is declining in the face of increasing populations of Latinos, primarily, and also Asian immigrants. Our exploration involves examining some possible effects that such rising levels of diversity have on non-Hispanic white views regarding (1) immigrants and immigration policy and (2) attitudes toward government, taxes, and spending. Our analysis relies on a variety of data sources, including an ongoing series of California state polls, as well as survey data from several national samples. The results strongly suggest that there is a theoretical and empirical basis for expecting rising levels of unrest and social conflict due in a significant way to the anxieties of non-Hispanic whites with respect to immigrants.

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