anti-immigrant

adjective

an·​ti-im·​mi·​grant ˌan-tē-ˈi-mə-grənt  ˌan-tī- 

: opposed to immigrants or immigration : characterized by or expressing opposition to or hostility toward immigrants

State and local politicians have used widespread public opposition to immigration to justify new anti-immigrant legislation.

—Robert K. Schaeffer

anti-immigration

ˌan-tē-ˌi-mə-ˈgrā-shən, 

ˌan-tī- 

adjective

anti-immigration policies

News of the rising growth rate also prompted anti-immigration groups to claim that immigrants damage the environment.

—Priscilla Huang

Examples of anti-immigrant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Abdi worries that Miller’s latest promotion will further anti-immigrant policies, which have long painted Iranians and other immigrant communities as threats. — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026

Texas in 2026 is California in the late 1990s, post–Prop 187, or Arizona after state legislators passed a string of venomously anti-immigrant measures in the 2000s. — Sasha Abramsky, Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2026

In Durban, which has become a hotspot for the anti-immigrant tensions that have surged this year, riot police were deployed to the city center as shops owned by foreign nationals were looted, according to state broadcaster SABC. — ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026

The worst outcome of this would be the coming to power of an extreme, right-wing, conspiratorial, anti-immigrant, anti-European, anti-NATO, anti-the-alliance-of-democracy government. — Caroline Mimbs Nyce, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1858, in the meaning defined above