Immigration and American Identity

Chapter 5 examines national identity and immigration in the United States, with specific attention to undocumented immigration. Approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants live across the United States. These undocumented immigrants present major challenges for the US government authorities. First is the challenge to the nation’s ability to successfully manage immigration. The second challenge is perhaps of greater psychological importance: the ability to manage American identity. Undocumented immigrants present a major challenge to a nation’s ability to successfully manage immigration to, and the identity of, the country. American identity was founded not from people coming from a common place and bloodlines but for a common purpose. Yet recent studies and public opinion polls have shown these shared ideals (e.g., individualism, hard work, liberty, equality of opportunity, and rule of law) are not so common across the United States. There is polarization and division in beliefs regarding America’s history, present, and future. This chapter concludes with discussion of a recent research study exploring the extent that differences in beliefs regarding American identity relate to differences in beliefs regarding undocumented immigrants.