They ain't One of Us: Anit-Immigration Sentiment and Labor Market Assimilation of Central American Immigrants

Abstract: This thesis investigates the impact of rising resentment against immigrants on the labor market assimilation of Central American Immigrants in the United States from 2014 to 2019. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump made anti-immigration rhetoric a core part of his campaign. A likely correlated rise in hate crimes against immigrants could be observed in the aftermath. Since immigrants from Central America have been demonized the worst, they are consequently the main focus of this investigation. The results based on analysis from a cross-sectional dataset, constructed from several American Community Survey waves, do indicate that immigrants who were exposed to higher rates of hate crime assimilated better into the American labor market. Possible explanations are a high proportion of illegal immigrants and possible differences between high and low population states.