Nativism (politics) - Anti-immigration Arguments

Anti-immigration Arguments

Anti-immigration sentiment is typically justified with one or more of the following arguments and claims about immigrants:

• Government expense: Government expenses may exceed tax revenue relating to new immigrants.
• Language: Isolate themselves in their own communities and refuse to learn the local language.
• Employment: Acquire jobs which would have otherwise been available to native citizens, suppressing wages.
• Patriotism: Damage a sense of community and nationality.
• Environment: Increase the consumption of scarce resources; their move from low to high pollution economy increases pollution
• Welfare: Make heavy use of social welfare systems.
• Overpopulation: May overpopulate countries.
• Culture: Can swamp a native population and replace its culture with their own.
• Housing: Increase in housing costs: migrant families can reduce vacancies and cause rent increases.

The claim that immigrants can "swamp" a local population is related to birth rate relative to nationals. Contemporary opponents of immigration blame it for such problems as unemployment, crime (especially through gangs), harm to the environment, and overwhelming social services such as hospitals, police.