Braking for immigrants? Analyzing the effects of news coverage on immigration policy in the United States

Abstract

What role does the media play in the policy process, and is there a meaningful relationship between bill passage and the media? Building on previous work investigating the relationship between media attention and bill passage time, this paper uses an issue-specific lens on one of the US's most polarized issues, immigration, to examine media attention as a contributor to friction and policy stasis. Results indicate that high media attention on illegal immigration slows passed bills and can kill bills in the introductory and committee stages. Contributions to media attention, framing, and punctuated equilibrium theory are offered.