Residential Mobility Constraints and Immigration Restrictionism

Prevailing theories of public opinion toward immigration posit that responses to immigration are partially a function of local area demographics. However, evaluations of these theories suffer from the critique that local immigration patterns and attitudes toward immigrants are endogenous due to residential self-selection. Recent efforts attempt to address this problem by using experimental designs that reduce the possibility of selection bias. Instead of viewing residential mobility as a source of bias, I develop a theory that treats residential mobility and political behavior as interconnected strategies for responding to demographic change. Across two large sample studies, I find that residents who live in diversifying communities and face residential mobility constraints are more likely to express dissatisfaction with immigration and less likely to report desires to move than those who reside in more exit-friendly destinations.