Graduation Year
2024
Document Type
Senior Thesis
Degree
Bachelor of Arts
Primary Major
Political Science
Primary Minor
Latin American Latino Studies
Thesis Advisor
Alison Howard, MA
Abstract
Historically, Immigration has played a critical role in forming the nation’s identity, economic prosperity, and promoting cultural diversity. Considering that the issue of Immigration has been in the news and is considered by many to be important and in need of policy solutions, little progress has been made on passing comprehensive immigration reform since the 113 th Congress in 2013. How members of Congress talk about Immigration is important because framing can influence public opinion, shaping perceptions of the issue and affecting policy decisions. Members may use their platform to communicate how they think about policy issues. Research has been done about Senators’ communication about the issue of immigration on their websites and have found that immigration is often framed as a security threat and the economic aspects related to immigration. This thesis asks how members of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress frame the issue of immigration? Using content analysis this thesis has examined members’ websites, floor speeches, and press releases to evaluate how they frame the issue of Immigration. This thesis found that the strongest indicator of how a member of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress will frame immigration was party affiliation. Hence, Democrats are more likely to frame immigration as a moral issue, while Republicans frame immigration as a national security issue. Immigration is an issue that affects everyone, and Congress is responsible for passing laws about immigration. Laws tend to have the best chance of getting passed when issues are salient, the agenda has been set, and people understand what a policy aims to achieve.
Included in
American Politics Commons, Immigration Law Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Public Policy Commons