The Effect of Attitudes toward Immigration on Support for COVID-19
Mitigation Policies in Immigration Detention Centers in the United
States
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted existing disparities in healthcare and
public policies in the United States. Although measures such as social
distancing and hygiene behaviors have been advocated for, many were
impossible to do for certain populations, leaving them at greater risk
of contracting and spreading the virus. Conditions in immigration
detention facilities have long been criticized, but deficiencies in
sanitation and safety exponentiated the spread of COVID-19 in these
facilities. The current studies assess the primary factors that underlie
support of policies designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in
immigration detention centers. We hypothesized that fear of COVID may
overtake attitudes towards immigrants in predictive strength of policy
support. Data gathered in Summer of 2020 (n=141) and Spring of 2021
(n=137) were analyzed using regression analyses to identify attitudes
and variables most predictive of policy support. Contrary to our
hypothesis, perceived risk of COVID-19 did not predict attitudes in
either study. Rather, results indicate that attitudes towards immigrants
proved to be the most significant predictor of support for these
policies. The results indicate that negative attitudes towards
immigrants remain the most impactful factors in support of policies
aimed at reducing illness and death, even during a worldwide pandemic.