'anti-immigration' is a compound formed from the prefix 'anti-' (from Greek 'anti-' meaning 'against') and 'immigration' (from English 'immigration'), where 'anti-' meant 'against' and 'immigration' referred to the movement of people into a country.

'immigration' comes from Late Latin 'immigratio' (via French 'immigration'), from Latin 'immigrare' ('in-' + 'migrare' meaning 'to move'), and the compound 'anti-immigration' developed in modern English (chiefly 20th century) as 'anti-' was combined with 'immigration' to label opposition to it.

Initially the elements simply meant 'against' + 'movement into a country'; over time the compound came to denote not just opposition in principle but a named political stance or movement—'opposition to immigration'—with contemporary political and social connotations.