Visit reddit, and you'll see that many of these Europeans who are against immigration are specifically against male immigrants with Black African and North African heritage. I think that there's a lot of racism in these sentiments. More than just a generic xenophobia.
I don't think calling genuine fear racist or xenophobic is very fair. For someone who's lived long enough to compare life 30 years ago and now (for example in Germany or Sweden) there are some obvious changes visible with equally observable consequences. You just know by paying attention and staying informed.
I think name calling and gaslighting is the biggest problem here because it poisons the whole discourse.
