Crime, Documentation Status, and Content Analysis: Evidence from American Surveys Evaluating the Public’s Perception of Deportations

Authors

Madelyn Einhorn, Western Kentucky University

Abstract

How does the public evaluate US deportations? This paper conducts two original, experimental surveys in the United States, asking the public about their perceptions of immigrant deportations from the US. The first section of this paper utilizes an experimental design to determine how documentation status and criminality impact the public’s views of deportations. The second section of this paper asks an open-ended question about perceptions of deportations and uses automatic content analysis to determine the emotional sentiment of respondents’ answers. This paper determines that Americans view deportations as an appropriate punitive measure for undocumented immigrants and immigrants who have committed crimes.

Recommended Citation

Einhorn, Madelyn (2023) "Crime, Documentation Status, and Content Analysis: Evidence from American Surveys Evaluating the Public’s Perception of Deportations," Commonwealth Review of Political Science: Vol. 6: No. 1, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61611/2994-0044.1046
Available at: https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/crps/vol6/iss1/6