The Informed Reader / Insights and Items of Interest From Other Sources
Politics:</br></br>Globalization Fuels Anti-Immigrant Mood</br></br>The backlash against illegal immigrants has deeper roots than the economic impact of immigration, writes John B. Judis in the New Republic. It reflects a broader anxiety over the health of the U.S. and the impact of globalization.</br></br>In states such as Iowa and South Carolina, voters' concerns do reflect a sudden and recent rise in the immigrant population. But strong anti-immigrant backlashes are also occurring in states where immigrants are scarce. In New Hampshire, exit polls from the primary showed that 25% of Republican and independent voters considered immigration the most important issue the country faces. Yet the state ranks 42nd when it comes to the number of illegal immigrants living there, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, and only 2.2% of New Hampshire residents are Hispanic.</br></br>In such states, Mr. Judis writes, immigrants have become the scapegoats for the economic anxieties brought by globalization. Those who feel the strongest about immigration are generally workers from the lower middle class without technical qualifications -- those whose livelihoods are most at risk from outsourcing. A poll last year found the statement "immigrants take more from our country than they give" garnered the most support among men between the ages of 30 and 39 without a college degree.