Do Perceptions Match Reality? Comparing Latinos’ Perceived Views of State Immigration Policy Environments with Enacted Policies

• Published in: Policy studies journal 2019-08, Vol.47 (3), p.774-792
• Main Authors: Ybarra, Vickie D., Juárez Pérez, Melina, Sanchez, Gabriel R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access to education; Community; Health care policy; Health education; Health status; Hispanic Americans; Immigrants; Immigration; Immigration policy; Intellectuals; Latin American cultural groups; Latino policy knowledge; Measurement; Mental health; Noncitizens; Perceptions; Policies; Policy making; Political culture; Political participation; Quantitative analysis; Quantitative research; Rhetoric; state immigration policy; State policies
• ISSN: 0190-292X; 1541-0072
• DOI: 10.1111/psj.12303

This paper explores assumptions made and measurement approaches in the nuanced pathway between enacted state immigration policies and the outcomes they affect in Latino immigrant communities. Scholars across a variety of fields have found that contemporary state immigrant policymaking is associated with outcomes in immigrant communities including political engagement, mental and physical health, access to education, and labor opportunities. In this paper, we explore questions of how state immigration policies produce these and other outcomes. Much of this literature relies on the assumption that members of the immigrant communities are aware of the state policies being enacted, yet few quantitative studies of the effects of state immigration policy contain measures of both policy and of perception. We seek to determine the extent to which Latino immigrants are aware of state immigrant policymaking to help determine whether state immigration policies are a valid approach to measure perceptions of the immigration policy environment in Latino immigrant communities. Additionally, we explore alternative measures of immigration policy. Our findings are particularly relevant to policymakers and immigration scholars as the contemporary political environment has helped to fuel anti‐immigrant sentiments and rhetoric contributing to Latinos’ perceptions of the state immigrant policy environment. 从制定州移民政策到该政策在拉丁裔移民社区中带来影响需要一个过程，不同情况下的这一过程有细微差别，本文对一过程的假设与测量方法进行了探讨。各个领域的学者都发现，现代州移民政策的制定与其在移民社区内带来的影响有关，这些影响包括政治参与、身心健康、以及获得教育和劳动的机会。在本文中，我们探讨了州移民政策如何产生上述影响亦或其他结果。关于州移民政策的影响，大多数文献都假设移民社区成员知晓他们的州所制定的移民政策，而很少有定量研究会同时测量政策的影响以及个体对政策的感知。我们试图测定拉丁裔移民对州移民政策制定的感知程度，以帮助确定州移民政策是否可以有效测量拉丁裔移民社区对他们所处的移民政策环境的感知。此外，我们还探讨了针对移民政策的其他替代测量方法。我们的研究结果与政策制定者和研究移民的学者特别相关，因为在当代的政治环境下，反移民情绪和言论会更易影响到拉美裔对州移民政策环境的感知。