Unwelcome Immigrants Knocking on the Door: Demographic Features of Immigrants and Populist Attitudes Rising in South American Countries

Abstract

Previous studies examining the link between immigration and populism have found mixed empirical results. By focusing on the populist attitude among native citizens, this article revisits the question of how immigration affects populism. In addition, we investigate this relationship in South America where immigrants are more educated, and skilled and have similar cultural or historical roots to native citizens. By using Latino Barometro data from 2000 to 2018, our empirical analysis of 10 South American countries finds that immigration fuels the populist attitude among citizens in South American countries. We also demonstrate the proportion of working-age immigrants or the level of economic development of immigrants’ home countries can change the influence of immigration on populism. These findings suggest that despite different features of immigration in this region than observed in other regions such as Europe the link between immigration and populism still holds.