The West Against Herself: Immigration, Intolerance, and the Rise of Populist Nationalism

Immigration has always been both a lifeblood and a source of anxiety in Western societies. The United States was built by immigrants; post-war Europe rebuilt herself with the labour of migrants. Yet in the early twenty-first century, a paradox has hardened: just as globalisation makes societies more diverse than ever, the Western world has grown more intolerant of newcomers. Populist movements that fuse nationalism with anti-immigrant rhetoric are thriving on both sides of the Atlantic. To understand this reversal, one must look at economic, cultural, and political currents that have reshaped the West.

Economic Dislocation and Inequality

Immigration has become a lightning rod for deeper economic grievances. The decline of heavy industry, automation, and global outsourcing have hollowed out traditional working-class communities. For many, immigrants are perceived as competitors for scarce jobs, public services and housing. While economists often stress that immigration boosts growth and innovation, perception trumps statistics. When wages stagnate and housing becomes unaffordable, it is easy for populists to argue that immigrants are to blame.

The financial crisis of 2008, the Eurozone’s uneven recovery and austerity measures compounded these anxieties. In the United States, the erosion of the manufacturing belt gave rise to talk of an abandoned “Rust Belt.” In Europe, southern states struggled with unemployment while northern economies tightened controls. Immigration, even when marginal to these problems, became the most visible scapegoat.

Cultural Insecurity and Identity Politics

Economic grievances alone do not explain the intensity of hostility. Cultural insecurity plays an equal role. The arrival of immigrants with distinct languages, religions, and customs unsettles communities already anxious about rapid change. In Europe, Muslim immigration in particular has become a lightning rod, fusing fears of terrorism, radicalisation, and cultural dilution. In the United States, immigration from Latin America has provoked debates about assimilation, the Spanish language, and the erosion of a supposedly unitary national identity.

The digital age magnifies these insecurities. Social media amplifies images of migrant caravans, border crises, or criminal incidents involving foreigners, creating impressions of chaos even when numbers are small. Right-wing parties and movements capitalise upon these fears by framing immigration as an existential threat to cultural continuity.

Political Opportunism and Populist Rhetoric

Populist leaders thrive on crises. By framing immigration as a zero-sum conflict between “the people” and “the outsiders”, they simplify complex social questions into slogans. Donald Trump’s promise to build a wall, Viktor Orbán’s crusade against Muslim refugees, Marine Le Pen’s rhetoric on French identity—all illustrate how immigration provides an easy rallying cry.

Populism also feeds on distrust of elites. When centrist politicians stress the economic benefits of migration or the moral necessity of asylum, populists retort that elites live in cosmopolitan enclaves insulated from the costs of diversity. This divide between metropolitan centres and provincial heartlands has widened into one of the defining cleavages of Western politics.

The Role of Race and Historical Memory

There is also the shadow of race. In the United States, hostility to immigration is bound up with the long history of racism against African-Americans and Latinos. The shift towards a “majority-minority” society—expected within a generation—creates profound anxieties amongst parts of the electorate. In Europe, colonial legacies intersect with immigration patterns: migrants from North Africa to France, or from South Asia to Britain, recall the imperial past in ways that unsettle national narratives.

The resurgence of explicitly racist discourse is a warning. Where once racism was coded or denied, today movements across the West use the language of “replacement”, “purity” or “defence of heritage” openly. What was once on the margins of politics now intrudes upon the mainstream.

Globalisation, Crisis and the Refugee Question

Globalisation has also increased the scale and visibility of migration. Wars in the Middle East, climate change in Africa and economic instability in Latin America have produced refugee flows on a scale unseen since the Second World War. The 2015 refugee crisis in Europe, and repeated scenes of overloaded boats in the Mediterranean, shaped perceptions of an uncontrollable tide. Even when numbers have declined, the imagery lingers.

Moreover, the war in Ukraine has complicated Western narratives. Millions of Ukrainians found refuge in the EU, where they were often received with open arms. The contrast between this reception and the hostility shown to African or Middle Eastern refugees has sharpened accusations that Western immigration debates are not only about numbers, but about race and religion.

Examples of Populism and Immigration

Hungary: Orbán’s Fortress Europe

Hungary illustrates the most extreme example of immigration weaponised for political gain. In 2015, at the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, Viktor Orbán’s government erected razor-wire fences along Hungary’s borders and broadcast images of migrants as an invading force. Hungary received few refugees in absolute terms, but Orbán transformed immigration into the central plank of his electoral strategy. By framing his party, Fidesz, as the defender of “Christian Europe” against Muslim migrants, Orbán created a permanent atmosphere of siege.

Italy: From Mediterranean Gateway to Populist Stronghold

Italy has borne the brunt of Mediterranean migration, with thousands arriving annually on boats from Libya and Tunisia. This strain has been magnified by economic stagnation and unemployment, especially in the south. Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League, rose to prominence by railing against migrants, at one point refusing docking rights to rescue ships. In office, Salvini cultivated an image of the defender of Italy’s borders. Immigration, although a small fraction of Italy’s wider population problem, became the lightning rod for wider resentment about Europe’s inability to share burdens equally.

France: Identity and Assimilation

France’s immigration debate centres upon identity and assimilation. With large populations of North African and sub-Saharan origin, the French Republic struggles to reconcile her universalist ideals with visible cultural difference. Terrorist attacks have further sharpened hostility, and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally has thrived by casting immigration as incompatible with French secularism and tradition. Populist narratives warn of a “clash of civilisations”, appealing to voters anxious about suburbs marked by poverty and alienation.

United States: Border Politics and Demographic Anxiety

In the United States, Donald Trump’s rise was inseparable from immigration. His promise to “build the wall” on the Mexican border symbolised a broader fear that uncontrolled immigration was eroding American sovereignty. Migrant caravans became the defining image of threat in right-wing media. Beneath the slogans lies demographic anxiety: census projections showing that whites will become a minority by mid-century have fuelled narratives of “replacement” that once lingered on the fringes. Populist movements frame immigration not merely as policy failure but as cultural dispossession.

Historical Parallels and Lessons

Irish Immigration to the United States

In the mid-nineteenth century, waves of Irish immigrants fleeing famine arrived in American cities. They were greeted with hostility: accused of taking jobs, blamed for urban poverty, and stereotyped as criminal and unassimilable. Anti-immigrant groups such as the “Know-Nothings” flourished. Yet within a generation, Irish-Americans had become integrated into political and civic life, producing mayors, police chiefs, and eventually a president in John F. Kennedy. The lesson is that initial hostility often fades as immigrant groups establish themselves in society.

Polish Workers in France

During the interwar years, France imported Polish miners and labourers to rebuild her economy. They were treated with suspicion and subjected to discrimination, accused of undercutting wages and threatening French identity. Yet over time, they became one of the most integrated immigrant groups in the country, their descendants now indistinguishable from the broader French population. Here again, early fears proved transient.

Turkish Gastarbeiter in Germany

Post-war West Germany recruited Turkish “guest workers” to fill industrial labour shortages. At the time, it was assumed they would return home; in fact, many settled permanently. For decades, they were seen as outsiders. Debates about headscarves, mosques and assimilation dominated German politics. Yet today, Turkish-Germans occupy high office, lead businesses and shape culture. Integration remains incomplete, but the trajectory shows gradual accommodation despite decades of political alarmism.

These examples demonstrate that hostility to newcomers is not new. Every great wave of immigration in the West has provoked anxiety, resentment, and sometimes violence. Yet over time, integration proceeds, identities evolve, and societies are enriched. The current panic about immigration, although sharp, fits into this longer cycle of suspicion followed by acceptance.

The Battle for the West’s Soul

The Western world’s growing intolerance of immigration is not simply about border management. It reflects deeper insecurities—economic stagnation, cultural anxiety, political polarisation, and the lingering legacies of race and empire. Populist leaders exploit these fears to build movements that fuse nationalism with hostility to outsiders, often veering into racism.

History reminds us that such reactions are cyclical. The Irish in America, the Poles in France, the Turks in Germany—each wave once sparked outrage, but ultimately enriched the societies that received them. The danger today is that populist nationalism, amplified by digital media and global uncertainty, hardens suspicion into permanent exclusion.

The battle over immigration is therefore a battle for the West’s soul. If populist nationalism continues unchecked, the West may retreat from her universal ideals and betray the promise that made her prosperous. But if leaders draw upon historical lessons—reconnecting economic justice with cultural confidence—immigration can once again be seen not as a threat, but as the renewal of a civilisation whose strength has always lain in her capacity to absorb and transform difference.