This research is critically important because it uncovers how immigration and welfare attitudes are deeply intertwined in the United States today. By combining state-level data on immigrant participation in welfare programs with national survey data from 2004 to 2016, the research shows that people who already hold negative views toward immigrants become even less supportive of welfare spending when they live in states where immigrants use more welfare benefits. In other words, both beliefs and local context work together to shape how Americans think about the welfare state. This finding helps explain why public support for social programs can decline in diverse states and underscores how immigration has become tightly linked to welfare politics in the United States—what the study calls the “immigrationalization” of the welfare state. These findings reveal how immigration debates increasingly influence opinions about social policy, fueling polarization around redistribution and public spending. In an era of growing diversity, economic uncertainty, and politicized rhetoric about immigrants, this study provides critical insight into how perceptions of immigration can erode solidarity and reshape the boundaries of who is seen as deserving of government support.

Link to Article: https://doi.org/10.1017/rep.2025.10012