From Ryan Lizza's latest article in The New Yorker:
Anti-immigrant passion also owes much to the disproportionate influence of a few small states in the nominating process. National polls show that, as an issue, immigration is far behind the Iraq war, terrorism, the economy, and health care as a concern to most Americans; a recent Pew poll shows that, nationally, only six per cent of voters offer immigration as the most important issue facing the country. But in Iowa and South Carolina, two of the three most important early states, it is a top concern for the Republicans who are most likely to vote. 'It's the influx of illegals into places where they've never seen a Hispanic influence before,' McCain told me. 'You probably see more emotion in Iowa than you do in Arizona on this issue. I was in a town in Iowa, and twenty years ago there were no Hispanics in the town. Then a meatpacking facility was opened up. Now twenty per cent of their population is Hispanic. There were senior citizens there who were - "concerned" is not the word. They see this as an assault on their culture, what they view as an impact on what have been their traditions in Iowa, in the small towns in Iowa. So you get questions like "Why do I have to punch 1 for English?" "Why can't they speak English?" It's become larger than just the fact that we need to enforce our borders.'
McCain has a point. I used to suspect that immigration was gaining traction as an issue due to security concerns over terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now the national security issues are receding into the background while immigration continues to occupy the foreground. Maybe the reason for this doesn't have to do with security, doesn't have to do with economic anxiety. Maybe the reason, as McCain suggests, is simply a perceived assault on cultural identity, a loss of what it means to be American in a globalized, market-oriented world.