(A) According to Jerome Danner (2019), the increase of low skilled immigrants over the past few years has created job competition for less-educated Americans. The competition for jobs between citizens and immigrants causes citizens to feel more prejudice towards immigrants. This supports the realistic group conflict theory, which states that conflict between groups results from competition for access to limited resources (Zarate et al., 2003, p.100). According to Robert Tarcinski (2015), many citizens believe that the presence of immigrants in the country will impact Americans’ liberty and change their culture. This supports the cultural threat hypothesis that states that differences in interpersonal traits and culture between Americans and immigrants creates negative feelings and prejudice. (Zarate et al., 2003, p. 103).
(B) Trump has demonstrated higher degrees of cruelty towards immigrants by separating children from their parents and creating detention camps at the U.S. border. Stanley Greenberg (2019) describes a Pew survey asking citizens whether immigrants “strengthen our country because of their hard work and talents” or “are a burden on our country because they take our jobs, housing, and health care.” Results showed that the percentage in support of immigration raised from 53% in 2015 to 62% in 2019. This shows that Trump’s reprehensible battle against immigration is causing citizens to step back and reconsider their beliefs.
However, William Jeunesse (2019) states, U.S. citizens feel immigrants are costing billions of dollars in taxpayer benefits. Its reported more than 25,000 undocumented workers recieve subsidized housing and billions in taxpayer benefits are lost every year (Jenunesse, 2019). With illegal immigration a growing problem we see continue to see an increase in costs of education, health care, and law enforment (Spakovsky & Stimson, 2019).
(C) Pettigrew et al., (2011, p. 276) acknowledges friendship as a type of intergroup contact which reduces prejudice between immigrants and citizens. Cities with higher percentages of immigrants like Chicago are rated as the most immigrant friendly cities in the US (Grace Hauk, 2019). This increased contact between citizens and immigrants helps decrease prejudice and creates a welcoming environment for immigrants.
Negative intergroup contact usually occurs in work environments where there is frequent competition (Pettigrew et al., 2011, p. 277), like immigrants taking jobs. According to Amita Kelly (2017), “The administration reasons that too many low-skilled immigrant workers are entering the country, costing Americans jobs and wages.” In this scenario, citizens are “forced” to compete with immigrants, thereby increasing prejudice.
Sources
Author: Danner, J.
Publication Date: 2019, March 16
Article Title: Yes, Illegal Immigration is a national emergency, but not for the reasons Trump is Giving
Name of Periodical: Fox News
Author: Tracinski, R.
Publication Date: 2015, September 24
Article Title: Is Immigrantion a Threat to Our Culture?
Name of Periodical: The Federalist
URL: https://thefederalist.com/2015/09/24/is-immigration-a-threat-to-our-culture/
Author: Greenberg, S.
Publication Date: 2019, October 11
Article Title: Trump backfire: Americans increasingly embrace ‘nation of immigrants’ history and future
Name of Periodical: USA Today
Author: Jeunesse, W.
Publication Date: 2019, April 22
Article Title: Most Illegal Immigrants in US Receive Government Benefits, Costing Taxpayers Billions: Experts
Name of Periodical: Fox News
Author: Hauck, G.
Publication Date: 2019, November 13
Article Title: This is the Most Immigrant-Friendly City in America, New Report Says
Name of Periodical: USA Today
Author: Kelly, A.
Publication Date: 2017, April 2
Article Title: FACT CHECK: Have Immigrants Lowered Wages For Blue-Collar American Workers?
Name of Periodical: NPR
URL: https://www.npr.org/2017/08/04/541321716/fact-check-have-low-skilled-immigrants-taken-american-jobs
This essay connects the prompts with the readings, and engages with both excellently. I enjoyed how you juxtaposed the Group Dynamics studies with the news articles of biased media, this provides for a great lens on the behavior that is being exhibited throughout those articles. I would be interested to see what this would have been like if you used this lens from a non-US news source (i.e. BBC News) to see if any relevant behavior can be gleamed from there. But overall, nice work!
I think you all brought up a great point in how competition can increase prejudice. We just saw the video about the Robbers Cave Experiment and it seems like there is a similar mentality present where a perceived competition for jobs and limited financial resources has affected how immigrants are perceived. I think this is also particularly intensified with the racialization of immigrants, which causes more concerns for white Americans.