Is Race the Case? How the Racial Views of the Tea Party Movement Influence Members' Attitudes Concerning Policies That Benefit Immigrants

Abstract

A contradiction exists between Tea Party members' ideological principles and their preference for active government responses to increased immigration. While the Tea Party professes to favor stricter immigration policies as a means to promote economic prosperity, their hostility may have arisen as a byproduct of their racial views. This paper examines how Tea Partiers' racial views influence their attitudes toward programs that benefit immigrants. This study utilizes a survey experiment to disentangle the ideological preferences of Tea Party members from prejudicial attitudes in order to determine which component contributes to their aversion toward these general social programs. After positioning this study within existing literature regarding this nascent faction of the Republican Party and American views on immigration, an examination of the experimental survey data will reveal whether or not Tea Partiers exhibit disparate attitudes toward federal assistance when exposed to survey questions concerning immigrants of different races. The results indicate that racial views drive Tea Party opposition to federal assistance programs directed toward immigrants.