State and Local Policy Regimes: Immigration Reception and Immigrant Engagement

How do subnational state and local policies shape immigrant reception and civic engagement? This keynote speech addressing the ISA/ERC/Warwick workshop “Unpacking the Sending State: Regimes, Institutions, and non-State Actors in Diaspora & Emigration Politics” draws on a survey of almost 2000 native and foreign born respondents conducted in the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and Atlanta, two major recent immigrant-receiving urban centers in the United States. The study explores how differing local policy regimes— and other factors such as intergroup contact and trust— shape the attitudes of the native-born toward immigrants and their incorporation into civic life.