UC Irvine

The political context leading up to 2016 presidential election can be described as having anti-immigrant and anti-Latino elements. This dissertation leverages the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Postelection Survey to explore the implications of perceiving anti-immigrant sentiment to really be anti-Latino sentiment on Latino political behavior. After outlining a framework to understand perceptions of racialization as cuing both a sense of identity and threat, I explore the implications of perceived racialization for Latino identity formation, partisanship acquisition, attitude formation, and political participation. Regression analyses show that Latinos who perceive racialization are more likely to develop racialized identities, attachment to the Democratic party, support pro-group policies, express vulnerabilities, and support unconventional forms of participation. These findings offer insight into Latinos’ sense of place in American political society and indicates how Latino political behavior may manifest in a future mirroring the racializing conditions of 2016.