Urban Affairs Review
Volume 44, Issue 5, 2009, Pages 695-717

Look back in anger?: Voter opinions of Mexican immigrants in the aftermath of the 2006 immigration demonstrations (Article)

Cohen-Marks M.* , Nuño S.A. , Sanchez G.R.
  • a University of California, San Diego's Urban Studies and Planning Program, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Loyola Marymount University's Urban Studies Program, Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • b University of California, Irvine, CA, United States, Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • c Department of Political Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States

Abstract

In the spring of 2006, an unprecedented mobilization of undocumented immigrants and their advocates sent shockwaves across the U.S. political landscape. Whether the demonstrations did more to advance the interests of undocumented residents and other immigrants or to harden nativist sentiments remains an open question. Examining data culled from a three-county exit poll of more than 4,300 voters in three urbanized western counties, we employ multivariate analysis to examine how the immigration rallies impacted voters' perceptions of Mexican immigrants. Our results indicate that the demonstrators failed to win the hearts and minds of American voters, most of whom reported that the rallies tended to negatively impact their perceptions of Mexican immigrants. The depth of this negative reaction varied across the sociopolitical contexts represented by the three counties as well as voters' individual attributes including party identification, ethnicity, nativity, and other characteristics. © 2009 SAGE Publications.

Author Keywords

Voter opinion Social movements Mexican-Americans Ethnic attitudes Immigration rallies Immigration

Index Keywords

ethnic group immigrant Multivariate Analysis social movement ethnicity voting behavior immigration
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-65249130533&doi=10.1177%2f1078087407311771&partnerID=40&md5=a79a8b5be676d9f6965febb0a08a23e1
DOI: 10.1177/1078087407311771
ISSN: 10780874
Cited by: 16
Original Language: English