National identity and anti-immigrant sentiment: Experimental evidence from Mexico

Abstract

In this article, we explore how historical patterns of identity construction shape today’s attitudes towards immigrants in Mexico. Immigrants in Mexico constitute a very small percentage of the country’s population. Yet some immigrants, in particular those of Asian origin, face a strong anti-immigrant sentiment as measured in terms of opinions and opposition to their social and political incorporation. We trace contemporary anti-Chinese sentiment back to historical processes of Mexican colonisation, which resulted in a particular politics of Chinese incorporation at the turn of the 19th century. This incorporation was violently contested during and after the revolution, leading to a construction of a national identity based on openly excluding the Chinese community. Using experimental evidence, we show that anti-Asian prejudice today is well explained by looking at ethnic traits and civic norms that are endorsed by natives as being constitutive of Mexican national identity.