Perceptions of Immigrant Privilege and Public Preferences for Immigration Policy: Evidence from Belgium

Extensive research has identified multiple factors shaping public attitudes toward immigration. Building on theories of relative deprivation, this article contributes to this literature by arguing that perceptions of immigrants' preferential and unfair treatment relative to both native-born citizens and homeless people play a central role in shaping immigration policy preferences toward immigrants from both poorer and richer countries. Using data from an original nationally representative survey, we find that nearly four in ten native-born Belgians (38%) believe immigrants are treated better than native-born citizens, and six in ten (60%) perceive immigrants as privileged relative to homeless people. Our results show that both perceived native-born relative deprivation and perceptions of immigrants' privilege vis-à-vis homeless people are statistically significant and robust predictors of support for restrictive immigration policy toward migrants from both poorer and richer countries. We also found that the belief that immigrants are treated more favourably than native-born citizens exerts a stronger influence on support for restrictive immigration policy toward migrants from poorer countries than immigrants from richer countries.