North American Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration in the Time of COVID-19: The Role of National Attachment and Threat

• Author: Kate H. Choi,Victoria M. Esses,Alina Sutter,Patrick Denice,Joanie Bouchard
• Published date: 01 September 2021
• Date: 01 September 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00027162211057501

148 ANNALS, AAPSS, 697, September 2021

DOI: 10.1177/00027162211057501

North American

Attitudes

toward

Immigrants and

Immigration in

the Time of

COVID-19:

The Role of

National

Attachment and

Threat

By

VICTORIA M. ESSES,

ALINA SUTTER,

JOANIE BOUCHARD,

KATE H. CHOI,

and

PATRICK DENICE

1057501ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYCOVID-19 AND ATTITUDES ON IMMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRATION

research-article2021

Using a cross-national representative survey conducted

during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine predic-

tors of attitudes toward immigrants and immigration in

Canada and the United States, including general and

COVID-related nationalism, patriotism, and perceived

personal and national economic and health threats. In

both countries, nationalism, particularly COVID-

related nationalism, predicted perceptions that immi-

gration levels were too high and negative attitudes

toward immigrants. Patriotism predicted negative

immigration attitudes in the United States but not in

Canada, where support for immigration and multicul-

turalism are part of national identity. Conversely, per-

sonal and national economic threat predicted negative

immigration attitudes in Canada more than in the

United States. In both countries, national health threat

predicted more favorable views of immigration levels

and attitudes toward immigrants, perhaps because

many immigrants have provided frontline health care

during the pandemic. Country-level cognition in con-

text drives immigration attitudes and informs strategies

for supporting more positive views of immigrants and

immigration.

Keywords: immigrants; immigration; COVID-19;

pandemic; nationalism; patriotism; threat;

prejudice; attitudes

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic infected

more than 83 million people worldwide and

killed more than 1.8 million (Johns Hopkins

University 2020). Its economic impact was also

enormous, with many pundits arguing that the

economic fallout resulting from COVID-19 led

Correspondence: vesses@uwo.ca

Victoria M. Esses is a professor of psychology and

director of the Network for Economic and Social Trends

at Western University. Her research examines public

attitudes toward immigrants and immigration and the

pathways through which immigration policies and

practices influence immigrants’ settlement and integra-

tion in receiving countries. Her most recent work

includes a 2021 Annual Review of Psychology article on

prejudice and discrimination toward immigrants.

COVID-19 AND ATTITUDES ON IMMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRATION 149

to the deepest global recession since World War II (World Bank 2020).

Competition for personal protective equipment and restrictions on exports of

medical supplies led to tensions among nations, and vaccine nationalism—a “my

nation first” view on how vaccines should be distributed—greatly thwarted

attempts to promote global cooperation in protecting citizens and nations

(Weintraub, Bitton, and Rosenberg 2020).

The pandemic also led to partial or complete border closures to nonresidents

and the halting of immigration and the entry of asylum seekers to most OECD

(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries (OECD

2020). Some questioned whether COVID-19 would be the end of immigration as

we know it (Reidy 2020). As countries turned inward, concern grew that negative

views toward “outsiders” would increase and that migration policies would

harden. This article identifies predictors1 of attitudes toward immigrants and

immigration during this time of a pandemic, using a cross-national survey con-

ducted in Canada and the United States in August 2020.

Although Canada and the United States are both Western settler societies that

share a geographic border and have many cultural similarities, they differ in sev-

eral significant ways that may influence reactions to immigrants and immigration.

One important difference is their immigrant selection criteria, with Canada

focused on attracting high-skilled economic migrants and the United States hav-

ing disproportionately higher shares of family-based immigration (Antecol, Cobb-

Clark, and Trejo 2003). Another important difference between the two countries

is their position on the world stage and identity as world powers, with the United

States a dominant power whose citizens take pride in their political influence in

the world, economics, and military; and Canada a more modest power whose citi-

zens take pride in their fair and equal treatment of all groups and their social

security system (Smith 2006). These differences are also reflected in the fact that

Canada has a far more extensive system of universal benefits and services for its

Alina Sutter is a postdoctoral associate in the Network for Economic and Social Trends at

Western University. Her research interests include public attitudes toward immigrants and

refugees, as well as barriers that immigrants and refugees face in their process of integration.

Her most recent work includes a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Dehumanization.

Joanie Bouchard is a postdoctoral fellow in political science at Western University. Her most

recent work has been published in Public Opinion Quarterly and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity,

and Politics. She focuses on issues of political discrimination as well as on electoral behavior

and psychology.

Kate H. Choi is an associate professor in sociology at Western University. Her research exam-

ines the determinants and consequences of inequality, with a focus on the correlates of partner

selection and inequality by race, immigration experience, and socioeconomic status. Her work

has been published in Demography and International Migration Review.

Patrick Denice is an assistant professor of sociology at Western University. His research focuses

on how policies and practices shape educational and workplace inequality. His work has

appeared in the American Sociological Review, Demography, Sociology of Education, and

Social Science Research, among other venues.

NOTE: This research was supported by the Faculty of Social Science at the University of

Western Ontario and grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of

Canada.