Valentino, Nicholas A. ; Brader, Ted ; Jardina, Ashley E. “Immigration Opposition Among U.S. Whites: General Ethnocentrism or Media Priming of Attitudes About Latinos?” Political Psychology. April 2013, Vol.34(2), pp.149-166.

This article talks about how ethnocentrism is a powerful component for an immigration opinion. They predict group-specific affect, not general ethnocentrism, should most powerfully shape immigration policy opinion in the contemporary United States. They test this expectation with content analysis of news coverage, survey data from 1992-2008, a survey experiment, and official statistics. They find evidence of of mentions of Latinos in media news coverage has increased, and outpace mentions of other groups starting in 1994, the year Prop 187 was passed, bringing an end to social welfare and educational assistance to undocumented immigrants. They also find that policies are being passed which are concerned with demographics concerning where immigrants are coming from. This is a peer reviewed article, and covers the heart and soul of what I want my research project to focus on.