To what extent does nativism exist today?

Whereas past nativism was more indiscreet and direct with their values and beliefs, today’s nativism is seen as being more subtle and indirect, which is much more dangerous. Indirectly and slowly infiltrating an ideology through public policy only forces it to resonate within society and produce a social framework that would be hard to suppress after it has been internalized. While the nativism of the past was profoundly extreme and blatantly racist in nature, contemporary nativism is more of a silent killer, with the same discriminatory values as in the past, but less aggressive. Nativists of the past acknowledged their racist nature. Today’s nativists do not coin themselves as nativists but as restrictionists, and deny any racist or discriminatory nature in their ideas and beliefs. Whether they want to admit them or deny them, it is crucial that we avoid caving into believing these concepts of nativists as we will continue to see them emerge in immigration debates and policies