Who Gets to Have a DREAM? Examining Public Support for Immigration Reform

Abstract

This article assesses how different notions of citizenship shape mass attitudes toward immigration reform. We examine the underpinnings of the military service and college education provisions that were at the center of the 2010 DREAM Act, which sought to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrant youth in the United States. Employing a survey experiment on a nationally representative US sample, we unpack the extent to which the mass public is willing to support immigration reform based on criteria tied to undocumented immigrants’ educational attainment or enlistment in the armed forces. While education has little effect on its own, military service significantly increases public support for a pathway to citizenship. The positive effect of military service endures when it is paired with less popular provisions, suggesting that a military criterion can serve as a basis of support for broader immigration legislation. Moreover, the effects are strongest for those groups who are traditionally viewed as being most opposed to immigration reforms that expand access to citizenship. The results of this study have implications for public attitudes toward immigration, the persistence of the citizen-soldier ideal, and the importance of framing in the policy-making process.

The “American DREAM”: Understanding White Americans’ Support for the DREAM Act and Punitive Immigration Policies

“…Permissive frames that include mentions of children elicit support for the DREAM Act across party lines (Haynes, Merolla, and Ramakrishnan 2016). From past literature, we know that policies that center children elicit more permissive and progressive policy preferences (Druckman, Peterson, and Slothuus 2013;Haynes, Merolla, and Ramakrishnan 2016;Wallace and Wallace 2020). For Republicans, the exceptional framing of DREAMers is one aspect that drives their support of the DREAM Act.…”

“…However, the strength of the mention of children differs among partisans depending on the year (Haynes, Merolla, and Ramakrishnan 2016) and level of polarization (Druckman, Peterson, and Slothuus 2013). The military service component is especially influential among Republicans, moving support of the DREAM Act bill from just over 50% to 65% (Wallace and Wallace 2020).…”

“…Given the United States' anti-immigrant sentiment in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, support for the DREAM Act is perplexing. To that end, scholars across fields have pointed to the exceptional framing of the DREAMers as the primary predictor of support (Druckman, Peterson, and Slothuus 2013;Haynes, Merolla and Ramakrishnan 2016;Pérez Huber 2016;Wallace and Wallace 2020).…”

“…3 The framing of the DREAM Act explains why the majority of Americans support the legislation and legitimizes DREAMers' "American" actions of attending college or serving in the military (Haynes, Merolla, and Ramakrishnan 2016). In some ways, they have earned citizenship (Sullivan 2019;Wallace and Wallace 2020). Whites' generally harbor more restrictive and punitive immigration policy preferences.…”

“…Republicans' support for both these policies is not contradictory given past scholarship. Republican support for the DREAM Act is primarily due to the military component of the framing of the DREAM Act (Wallace and Wallace 2020). Additionally, Republicans generally support restrictive immigration policies.…”