Public Opinion, Immigration Enforcement, and Donald Trump: A Micro-Level Analysis

This study examines the variables that influence public opinion regarding immigration enforcement in the United States during a period of heightened anti-immigration sentiments and policies. Specifically, this study investigates the factors that contributed to public support for or against police stops aimed at undocumented immigrants during the Trump presidency. By focusing on undocumented immigrants rather than the entire spectrum of immigrants, this study makes a unique contribution to the existing literature. To achieve this objective, this research used public opinion data across all 50 states in the United States and employed binary logistic regression analysis on the data. The results indicate that political ideology, party identification, region, and education significantly decreased the likelihood of public support for immigration enforcement against undocumented immigrants. On the other hand, age significantly increases public support for immigration enforcement. The findings partially support the assumptions of the group threat and conflict theories, and the study discusses the theoretical and policy implications of these results.