Agenda Setting, Public Opinion, and the Issue of Immigration Reform

Abstract

Objective. Agenda-setting theory is used to motivate hypotheses about how media coverage of immigration influences public perceptions of its importance. The authors seek to offer a more complete explanation of public opinion on immigration by exploring differences in the effects of immigration news in border and nonborder states. Method. This article employs content analyses of newspaper coverage of immigration and Gallup public opinion data over a 12-month period (January‐ December 2006). Respondents’ identification of immigration as a ‘‘Most Important Problem’’ is modeled as a conditional relationship between border state/nonborder state residence and media coverage, ethnic context, and individual-level demographics. Results. Media attention to immigration is greater in border states than in nonborder states; as a result, residents of border states are more likely to identify immigration as a most important problem than are residents of nonborder states. Conclusions. The analyses point to the importance of geography and news coverage in explanations of public opinion on immigration. The public’s attitude toward immigration has traditionally been different for those residing in states that share a border with Mexico and those living in nonborder states. Extant survey research, which focuses primarily on Anglo attitudes (Alvarez and Buttereld, 2000; Johnson, Stein, and Wrinkle, 2003), reveals that individuals residing in border states consistently rate immigration as one of the ‘‘most important problems facing the nation,’’ relative to individuals residing in nonborder states. However, immediately following the 2006 spike in national media attention toward immigration reform and the wave of immigration protests nationwide, public opinion polls revealed that national public opinion regarding immigration surged to