MOTW #62

This map is from the Immigration Portal - their description follows:
The map above reflects the number of donations received by possibly the largest anti-immigration organization in its 2006 year-end fundraising campaign (source: NumbersUSA). We observe two points from this map (the map represents House
Districts, hence it is controlled for population). Firstly, the
map shows that anti-immigration sentiment is not prevalent across the country but is regionalized, with the West and Southwest more anti-immigrant (red, orange, and yellow shaded areas) and the East, Midwest, and most of the South more pro-immigrant (gray, purple, green, and blue shaded areas). Perhaps because of the
fact that the Southwest is a hotbed of the anti-immigrationists, prominent politicians of that area (Gov. Schwarzennegger, Sen.McCain, and Rep. Flake) support legalization. They grasp that the
problem is not immigrants but their legal status. Secondly, the red parts in the map correlate well with areas of recent Mexican immigration. To the extent that these immigrants assimilate, we should expect this map to cool in the future. On the other hand, if tensions between recent migrants and natives remain, we should expect the cooler areas to heat up as immigration to these areas increases in the future.