THE RISE OF ANTI-IMMIGRANT RHETORIC AND THE SUCCESS OF POLITICAL NATIVISM IN THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

Why has anti-immigrant rhetoric risen in the United States and how has political nativism been used as a successful electoral strategy? This paper seeks to understand how American politicians have successfully used anti-immigrant rhetoric as a winning electoral strategy in the United States. The paper analyzes the structural factors around immigration; with the political and demographic factors combining those streams of data allows us to draw a conclusion on the success of this rhetoric. This paper will serve as a case study within in the US, highlighting how the Republican Party has been a victim of its own political gerrymandering, forcing Republicans them to cater to the most conservative members of the party and giving rise to elected officials with nativist views.