Bees against honey: Why many immigrants oppose new waves of migration

In a 2014 Swiss referendum that proposed limiting migration, people with migration experience voted much like the locals — largely in favor of the initiative. A study of this vote, dubbed “Immigrants Against Immigration,” showed that support for restrictions was most common among migrants who lacked in-demand skills, as well as among those who had integrated into the Swiss hierarchy by adopting the widespread Secondo identity.

In all of these cases, immigrants’ concern about the influx of “rivals” was economically motivated. In the UK, low-income natives and newcomers alike were more negative toward migration than their wealthier peers. In Germany, the aforementioned Albanian immigrant AfD party branch head lives in a region experiencing economic decline.

Among native residents, this pattern is widespread. Negative attitudes toward migration have been found to be stronger among those who fear competition from foreigners. Conversely, respondents with skills that gave them an advantage tend to be more favorable. Workers in sectors anticipating job growth are also less likely to oppose migration.

Numerous studies show that first-wave migrants’ fears are unfounded: new arrivals do not cause higher unemployment — neither in the regions they move to nor within their own diaspora.

Migrants themselves are much more vulnerable to competition than locals, whose main advantages are social connections and better language skills. Still, once newcomers establish themselves in a new place and obtain citizenship, they increasingly begin to oppose immigration.