Nativism is the political policy of promoting or protecting the interests of "native-born" or established inhabitants over those of immigrants, including the support of immigration-restriction measures. Despite the name, and in the US in particular, this position is usually held by the descendants of immigrants themselves, and is not a movement led by Indigenous peoples. However, some anti-immigrants who hold this position maintain a different definition of "Indigenous".
Opposition to immigration
According to Joel S. Fetzer, opposition to immigration commonly arises in many countries because of issues of national, cultural, and religious identity. The phenomenon has been studied especially in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in continental Europe. Thus nativism has become a general term for opposition to immigration based on fears that immigrants will "distort or spoil" existing cultural values. In situations where immigrants greatly outnumber the original inhabitants, nativists seek to prevent cultural change.
Immigration restrictionist sentiment is typically justified with one or more of the following arguments against immigrants:
Economic
Employment: Immigrants acquire jobs that would have otherwise been available to native citizens, limiting native employment; they also create a surplus of labor that lowers wages.
Government expense: Immigrants do not pay enough taxes to cover the cost of the services they require.
Welfare: Immigrants make heavy use of the social welfare systems.
Housing: Immigrants reduce vacancies, causing rent increases.
Cultural
Language: Immigrants isolate themselves in their own communities and refuse to learn the local language.
Culture: Immigrants will outnumber the native population and replace its culture with theirs.
Crime: Immigrants are more prone to crime than the native population.
Patriotism: Immigrants damage a nation's sense of community based on ethnicity and nationality.
Environmental
Environment: Immigrants increase the consumption of limited resources.