Cultivating Prosperity: Agricultural Pressures on GOP Positions Supporting Latino Interests

Abstract: Why are Republican (GOP) members of Congress bucking their party's position on immigration, particularly among representatives from Great Plains districts? I argue intraparty GOP position differences arise from agriculture and its need for workers who are often immigrant and Latino. Consequently, Latino migration into rural areas excite racial threat pressure from a majority white constituency who urges substantive opposition against immigration and other minority interests from members of Congress. However, the transition to centralized large-scale agriculture (which needs a workforce) might produce a countervailing economic pressure on a member's position-taking. Therefore, I assert agriculture (an economic pressure) mitigates racial threat pressures (a demographic pressure) through an interaction that lowers the threshold for a GOP member to take positions supporting minority Latino interests well before they might otherwise. Using data from the US Census, Congress.gov, and Census of Agriculture, I look at roll-call behaviors in the 113th through 115th Congresses on bills of interest to Latinos. I find large-scale agriculture in conjunction with a foreign-born workforce entices GOP members to take positions that directly or indirectly support Latino interests well before it becomes electorally advantageous to court Latino voters.