Fear of Immigrants, Support for Exclusionary Immigration Policies & Police Stops against Illegal Immigrants with a Criminal Background in the US

Abstract

Most studies suggest that the fear of immigrants strongly influences public opinion about immigrants and immigration policies in the United States. Despite this knowledge, there is a lack of depth in the literature examining the effect of the fear of immigrants on police stops against undocumented immigrants and immigrants with criminal backgrounds. The present study fills this void in the literature by examining the effect of public fear of immigrants on public support for policing immigrants, specifically, undocumented immigrants with a criminal record, while controlling for other factors. Results from the regression analysis suggest that fear of immigrants, illustrated in exclusionary immigration policies, coupled with some socio-demographic factors, influence public attitude towards police stops against undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Theoretically, the present study fills a gap in the existing literature on the fear of immigrants, immigration, and policing, by exclusively focusing on undocumented immigrants with a criminal record. Policy-wise, the findings of these studies can be useful in developing more pragmatic and inclusionary immigration policies void of sentiments.