What drives immigration attitudes in the US? The roles of education, trust, and discrimination awareness

Purpose This study investigates the factors shaping public attitudes toward immigration in the United States, focusing on how demographic, ideological, and perceptual variables—such as education, political ideology, social trust, and awareness of discrimination—jointly influence views on immigration. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the 2021 General Social Survey (GSS), a nationally representative dataset, we apply ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to examine relationships between demographic predictors, perceptual mechanisms, and immigration attitudes. The analysis is grounded in symbolic interactionism, perceived threat theory, and group threat theory, and incorporates an intersectional perspective to interpret how overlapping social identities and perceptions interact. Findings Results show that older, conservative, and native-born Americans are more likely to support immigration restrictions. In contrast, higher education, liberal ideology, stronger trust in others, and awareness of systemic discrimination are associated with more inclusive immigration attitudes. The model explains nearly 40% of the variance in attitudes, highlighting the central role of perceptual and ideological factors. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design limits causal inference, and the GSS does not differentiate immigrant subgroups. Future studies should employ longitudinal data and more nuanced measures of trust and discrimination. Practical implications Findings highlight the importance of civic education, anti-discrimination efforts, and trust-building initiatives for fostering inclusive immigration attitudes. Originality/value This study advances immigration attitude research by integrating social trust and discrimination awareness as perceptual mechanisms within established theoretical frameworks. It contributes one of the earliest post-2020 empirical analyses of U.S. immigration opinion and emphasizes how trust and recognition of inequality intersect with ideology and identity to shape public opinion.