Slide 1:

This slide summarizes the demographic shifts in Arizona’s 4^th Congressional District in the time span of five years. The district was created in 2010, using parts of the former 1^st, 2^nd, and 5^th districts of Arizona. The current AZ-4 is considered to be the most Republican congressional district in all of Arizona. The district is predominantly white, with a higher white population and lower Latino population than Arizona as a whole. However, between 2012 and 2017 there was a two percentage point decrease in the white population, a 1.7 percentage point increase in the Hispanic population, and 4.8 percentage point increase in the foreign born population. I interpret this as a moderate increase in both the Hispanic and foreign-born population in the district. I also include data from 2007 in Arizona’s 5^th congressional district at the time as it partially comprised what is now AZ-4. We can see that the Hispanic population has increased relative to what it was in AZ-5 in 2007. However, this is not an entirely accurate comparison as the two districts comprise different areas and AZ-4 is significantly more rural.

Slide 2:

This slide summarizes the existing literature on how demographic changes affect the immigrant experience, media coverage of immigration issues, and public opinion. The literature I have presented in this slide implies that a growing immigrant, especially Hispanic immigrant, population can spur a “white backlash” and increased media attention. This is particularly true when there are sudden increases in the Hispanic or immigrant population, even if the shifts in the population are small. There is evidence that immigrants will experience negative reception, hostile rhetoric, and increased anti-immigrant policies when the population shifts (McDermott 2013, Hopkins 2010, Newman 2018). As the Latino population increases, newspaper coverage of immigration increases (Branton and Dunaway 2009). This happens particularly when the Latino population makes up between 18% to 30% of the overall population. Unlike Spanish media, English newspapers and other media coverage tends to negatively frame stories about immigration often sensationalizing or using narratives about a Latino threat (Abrajano and Singh 2009). This becomes particularly more evident and happens at a greater rate as one gets closer to the border (Branton and Dunaway 2009). Finally, an increasing Hispanic or immigrant population can impact public opinion of the majority population. Wong (2014) finds that a growing Hispanic population leads to support for more restrictive immigration policies in Republican districts, though it leads to support for more permissive immigration policy in general. Even small demographic changes can lead to whites in proximity of growing Latino populations to become more supportive of restrictive immigration policy and more likely to vote Republican (Enos 2014; Abrajano and Hajnal 2015).

Slide 3:

This slide summarizes the predictions of what we would expect to happen in Arizona’s fourth congressional district based on the presented research. The Hispanic and foreign born populations have both increased in the district. This is predicted to lead to increased negative rhetoric, hostile attitudes and strict policies that would impact the lives of immigrants in the district. Though the Latino population has increased, it still does not exceed 30% of the overall population, so we would expect to see an increase in newspaper coverage of immigration. Given that the minorities are primarily Latino and this is in a border state, we would expect to see the newspaper stories about immigration to be primarily negative, even more-so than national media coverage. This would be particularly true for English media sources compared to their Spanish counterparts. Finally, the area is highly Republican, so we would anticipate the growing foreign born population to actually increase support for restrictive immigration policy. Furthermore, white people in the district could be possibly become more in favor of restrictive policies and even more likely to vote Republican due to the increases in the Latino population.

Slide 4:

My research plan is to test the impact that the increasing immigrant and Hispanic population has had on media coverage. I want to see if in the timespan when the demographics were change if the media coverage of immigration has in fact increased and become more negative. I am focusing on the local newpapers in the district. Particularly, I would pull articles from January 2012 and compare them to articles written in January 2018. I would see if the newspapers wrote more about immigration issues in 2018 than in 2012, if the coverage is more negative, and if the focus of the articles draws attention to the immigrants being Latino. While this research method has its strengths, a possible drawback is that immigration politics might just be more salient everywhere in 2018 than they were in 2012. A possible way to combat this is to see if local newspapers in the district focus more on immigration issues than national media overall.

Demographics have changed a fair amount in Texas’s 2nd District. It is important to note, however, that congressional redistricting occurred in 2012 that eliminated parts of southeast Texas, which included larger African American and white populations, and added neighborhoods in Houston heavily populated by Latinos. These new geographic boundaries may influence the demographic changes noted. From 2007 to 2017, the Latino population increased from 19.7% to 32.1%, meaning that articles discussing how changing Latino demographics impacts local voting patterns will be relevant. The district also has a high and rising foreign-born population (21.7% in 2017, compared with 11.3% in 2007), as well as a high and rising proportion of Latinos who are immigrants (40.5% of all Latinos in 2017, compared with 37.7% in 2007), making articles discussing immigration policy and high volumes of immigrants in an area relevant to this presentation. Moreover, the high proportion of Latinos who are immigrants means this presentation will distinguish between articles discussing attitudes possessed by/toward this group of Latinos in particular. While the Asian population grew (a change from 3.2% in 2007 to 7.7% in 2017), the small overall size of Asians in the district meaning articles discussing the impact of a large Asian population will not hold much significance to this presentation. Finally, the non-Hispanic white population decrease from 55.9% in 2007 to 45.2% in 2017, meaning that articles discussing a declining white population in the context of rising minority populations (in this case, largely Latinos) will be relevant to the following discussion.

The scholarly theories in this presentation were selected based on their relevance to the 2nd District. De Graauw’s article was discussed due to the district containing western parts of Houston, America’s 4th largest city. Due to Houston’s population and its proximity to the southern border, it will likely be a “gateway city” for immigrants, meaning that many immigrant nonprofits will likely headquarters themselves there and advocate for immigrant integration into local politics and society. Branton and Dunaway’s piece was featured due to the rising Latino population in the district and to see how these changing demographics would change media incentives. A rising, but small Latino population would incentivize more coverage of immigration, as the issue would be of interest to the majority white population. However, after a certain threshold (around 18-27% Latino), media organizations view Latinos as potential consumers of media and decrease immigration coverage to not dissuade Latino viewers. Abrajano and Hajnal’s piece was included because of the large Latino population and large, but declining white population in the 2nd District. This theory predicts whites would view the large Latino population as a potential threat to white communities via economic competition, rising crime, competition for social services, and threats to white political power. Finally, Abrajano and Singh’s article was included due to the large number of foreign-born Latinos in the district. This theory predicts that native-born Latinos are more likely to take mainstream policy positions, causing them to view illegal immigration more negatively than immigrant Latinos who may be undocumented themselves or more closely relate to a shared immigrant experience with undocumented immigrants.

The district containing parts of Houston and possessing an immigrant population larger than the national average (21.7% vs. 13.7 nationally in 2017) predicts that immigrant nonprofits will be very active in the district and play a key role integrating immigrants into local politics (spreading awareness of local political issues, explaining how to register to vote, etc.). Since the Latino population is higher than the 18-27% threshold established by Branton and Dunaway (32.1% in 2017), newspapers in the 2nd District will contain less stories about immigration relative to areas with a Latino population slightly below the aforementioned threshold. Moreover, the high Latino population would also predict that whites in the 2nd District would view immigration as a top concern. The large foreign-born Latino population in the 2nd District (40.5% vs. 33.5% nationally in 2017) would predict that Latinos in the district would likely view illegal immigration as an economic benefit compared to Latinos in other districts.

The prediction chosen to be tested is that since the 2nd District’s Latino population (32.1%) is larger than Branton and Dunaway’s 18-27% threshold, local newspapers will cover immigration stories less than areas with a Latino at or slightly below this threshold. This test will be conducted by first comparing a Houston-area newspaper to a newspaper in a nearby Texas market that has a Latino population at or below the threshold. Keeping the second market in Texas allows us to control for differences in state laws/rhetoric by politicians about immigration. Despite the government shutdown starting December 22nd, 2018, this study will start its analysis on December 11th, 2018 because of a high-profile argument between President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that debated the amount of money appropriated to border security and likely started a spike in media coverage of immigration. This analysis will continue until January 25th, 2019, when the shutdown concluded, and include terms associated with the border security debate that caused the shutdown (“wall,” “shutdown,” “illegal immigration,” etc.). Moreover, positive aspects of immigration (reports of immigrants benefiting the country), neutral aspects (reports that do not declare a position) and negative aspects (crime stories, reports of economic competition with natives, social service use by undocumented immigrants, etc.) will be coded for in analysis of articles to see if a difference emerges between the two newspapers in tone. To assess the volume of stories, this analysis will observe the number of articles discussing immigration or the shutdown per day compared to the total number of articles published per day by each newspaper. Using proportions will be a better comparison because newspapers in Houston have a larger audience and likely more journalistic resources to print more stories than other areas of Texas.

POL334 assignment 2

Slide 1:  In the first slide is the comparison between racial and ethic populations in IL-4 between 2007 and 2017.  The district is predominantly Hispanic/Latino, and as I have mentioned in previous assignments, one of the most gerrymandered districts in the United states and is considered to be gerrymandered to incorporate areas with high Hispanic/Latino populations.  The most noticeable change is the 27.1 percentage point decrease in the “other” race category from 2007-2017.  I’m not sure as to why this is, but maybe it has to do with the domination of the Hispanic/Latino population in the district.  The Hispanic population has actually decreased by 4.6 pp’s over the 10 years despite domination by the democratic party and pro-immigrant Rep’s, potentially due to the election of Trump and movement towards some of his proposed policies.

Slide 2:   A lot of the literature included has to do with the change in sentiment that comes from media coverage of immigration along with increases in Hispanic populations and Trump’s rhetoric towards immigrants.  That being said, this could be true of the non-Hispanic populations in the district, but they are the minority, with the most being white, and that still only encapsulating 22.4% of the population.  Rep. Garcia is very pro-immigrant himself and intends to show support for immigrant groups in policy and in general.  This could reverse some negative sentiment held by native populations, as well as continue to connect and integrate immigrant groups with the community.

Slide 3:  This of course highlights predictions on how media coverage and Trump rhetoric will effect immigrant experience and public opinion.  In regards to this, it seems that if the ethnic enclaves that are found in IL-4 will hold strong, and will of course be supported by Rep. Garcia in light of negative media coverage and anti-immigrant sentiment supported by Trump.  It could also polarize those of white or native populations in IL-4 as a result of negative coverage and high immigrant/ Hispanic populations.

Slide 4:  This just talks about looking to find out if anti-immigrant sentiment in the media and by Trump will truly echo this effect in the white and native populations in IL-4.  I would do this by conducting a survey to ask questions regarding said sentiment, then comparing these survey results with each participants race, ethnicity and party association.  This would help determine If the media is affecting their feelings towards immigrant groups, and if Rep Garcia’s attitude towards immigrants is doing anything to offset it.

Slide 1:

Racially, Iowa is an overwhelmingly uniform state, and Steve King’s 4th district is no different.  White individuals comprise 91.9% of the state’s population, and only 2.3% of the fourth district is represented by the Asian-Americans and 1.5% by the black community (Census).  In a separate category, the Census breaks down that 7.1% of the population is Hispanic or Latino, of any race (Census). Furthermore, 5.3% of the population is comprised of foreign born individuals (Census).  The 4th district of Iowa has been redistricted multiple times since 2000, which in turn makes it difficult to gauge an accurate percent change of immigrants as well as racial makeup of the 4th district specifically from 2007 to 2017.  However, more broadly, over the last nine years, nearly 40% of the state’s population growth has been immigrants, which shows the accelerating growth of this group which can be applied to the 4th district (Lynch). Given the statewide trends, it is likely that the immigrant population in the redistricted 4th district has also increased significantly.  The median wage is $55,496, which would place the majority of the population into the lower middle class category. Both the population size as well as increasing change in immigrant population are correlated with more conservative views among whites, which is discussed throughout the remaining slides.

Slide 2:

Given that the media’s coverage of immigration is a major driver for public opinion on immigration which in turn dictates immigrant experiences, I will discuss the existing literature in this order.  It is no secret that news outlets tend to adopt a negative view on immigration, since the 1960s, they have highlighted the apparent overwhelming crime of immigrants and the strain on public resources that they pose.  But why? News outlets should provide the public with “information sufficient for use in the evaluation of matters of policy and governance” in an objective manner, not present a slanted view on specific issues (Branton, 257).  However, as Branton analyzes in his article, there are economic benefits for news outlets to produce stories pushing a certain narrative. Although the idea of an impartial press is universally encouraged, profit maximizing news organizations are cognisant of the demands of their consumers who prefer polarizing and ideologically slanted stories (Branton, 259).  Furthermore, given that many of these groups are owned by larger corporations which inherently adopt republican views, their stories reflect that ideology. In the context of immigration, if the news organization perceive their audience to be geared towards sensational and negative stories, there is an incentive for news outlets to “slant coverage in accordance with their perceptions about the preferences of their clientele” (Branton, 267).  Thus, we are likely to “see [a] negative slant in coverage of immigration” (Branton, 259).  This rationale is reflected in Emily Farris’ study, where she analyzed immigration images from three major news magazines.  In her research, she found that although only ¼ of immigrants are undocumented, more than half of the images in their dataset portrayed illegal aliens held captive in detention centers or attempting to cross the border illegally (Farris). The representation of the “Latino threat,” a false reality, reinforces the public’s preconceived notions and has shown the ability to “shift white voters toward the Republican Party,” adopting an anti-immigrant ideology (Farris).  The manipulation of public perception shining immigration in a negative light fosters resentment and anxiety towards the inclusion of foreign born individuals.  Abrajano warns that if “welfare, redistribution, and criminality dominate white views,” as it is publicized in the news, then immigrant relations with American citizens could mirror the backlash experienced by blacks in the past (Abrajano, 124).  Additionally, Sofya Aptekar speculated in her piece that representation of foreign born individuals may not be correlated with an increased immigrant population.  She observed that “half of the new Edison residents in the 1980s were Asian” however, they had little political representation regardless of their economic prosperity and increased population (Aptekar, 223).

Slide 3:

Given Iowa’s overwhelming Republican majority, it would be reasonable to believe that the bulk of media coverage regarding immigration would discuss restrictionist views.  As Branton contends, although Iowa is relatively far from the border which is theorized to decrease the prevalence of immigration in the news, the astounding Republican population will still influence news organizations “to print stories with a negative tone toward immigration” (Branton, 267).  There likely will be an overemphasis on “themes related to a threat narrative, particularly in regards to crime and illegality” (Farris). This persistent framing of the immigration debate indoctrinates viewers and leads them into the illegality trap, whereby inflating the “single-minded focus on undocumented immigration” develops into “the inability [for individuals] to shift this focus” (Farris).  As Republicans represent 92% of the counties in the fourth district, the already polarizing partisanship views on immigration are intensified by slanted stories in the media to foster negative feelings towards immigration (Almukhtar).  Steve King, congressman of the 4th district, advocates for the implementation of a border wall which reflects the views of his constituents.  This anxiety instilled in citizens about immigrants boosts opposition towards foreign born individuals. Furthermore, this attitude “toward Latino immigrants are quite negative and strongly associated with policy opinions” to the detriment of Latinos (Valentino, 154).  Given all this existing research based on media’s slanting of information and its effect on public opinion, one would logically conclude that immigrant experiences in Iowa’s 4th district would be one of oppression and marginalization. While this is true in many cases, it does not tell the full story.  Immigrant experiences often vary by race, as Aptekar discussed, the Asian immigrants in Edison were incredibly successful economically “they are much better off than whites in terms of socioeconomic status” however struggled politically (Aptekar, 235). Similarly, whites react very differently to an Asian American context compared to the Latino’s in that they view Asian immigrants as the “model minority and ally” (Abrajano, 152).  This is important in that whites believe Asian Americans are capable individuals and who are able to integrate into society, whereas “Latinos seem to be a real threat that whites counter with more restrictive and more punitive policy making” complicating their integration into society (Abrajano, 152).

Slide 4:

To test the prevalence of slanted news in the media, I will conduct a study to uncover the salience of framing and use of tone regarding immigration from the top three newspapers in Iowa.  Given that the Des Moines Register, The Gazette, and the Quad-City Times are the three most read newspapers in Iowa, according to Cision Media, I will conduct my research using these three outlets.  I will try to understand whether the theory of news organizations catering their material to the consumer’s preferences is true. To set the stage for this research, I will examine these newspapers from January 1-February 1, which should give me enough time to produce a reliable and applicable conclusion.  More specifically I will calculate the percent of immigration related stories from these three outlets, the number of buzzwords used to invoke a sense of fear or anxiety amongst the readers, and I will also attempt to figure out the demographic and party affiliation of each respective newspaper’s readers. From these variables, I hope to find whether or not newsgroups do in fact slant their stories in order to maximize their profit and in turn influence the public perception of immigrants in a negative way.  

In 2011, FL9 was redistricted: Originally including eastern Hillsborough County, northern Pinellas County, and the Gulf coast of Pasco County, the new district contains Osceola County, central Orange County, and northeastern Polk County. The district’s demographics from before and after the redistricting are shocking, as the 2007 demographics show a large white only population of 78.9% the population and a small proportion of Latinos at 11.8% but the 2012 and 2017 demographics have Latino proportions of 46.4% and 42.0%, respectively, and similar proportions of white only populations, at 37.1% and 40.6%, respectively. While the native population has remained high in all three years, with 87.5%, 79.8%, and 82.6%, respectively, the foreign-born and foreign-born and not a citizen populations have decreased from 2012 to 2017, with percentage point changes of -2.8 and -1.7, respectively.

Existing literature on the immigrant experience show how it is largely affected by the immigrant and Latino populations. de Graauw and Vermeulen find that the proportion of the immigrant population is a significant predictor of immigrant integration, and Fernandez-Kelly writes that a larger Latino population can create a greater sense of community and unity among Latino immigrants. Research on public opinion shows that a larger Latino population leads to more support for permissive immigration policies, but a large and growing Latino population in a Republic district can lead to greater support for restrictive policies (Wong 2014). However, findings also show that greater interactions between whites and Spanish-speaking Latinos leads to greater support for restrictive immigration policies (Enos 2014). As for media coverage, Abrajano and Hajnal find that most immigration media coverage of Latinos show them in a negative light, and this “threat narrative” is largely accepted by. Similarly, Branton and Dunaway and Abrajano and Singh find that local media also show immigrants in a negative light, unless the news is presented by Spanish media outlets or immigrants are portrayed as beneficial to the economy.

Based on existing research, I predict that the smaller proportion of immigrants in Florida’s 9^th Congressional district means that immigrant integration is weaker. But because of the large Latino population, Latino immigrants also likely feel a greater sense of belonging within the Latino community. I predict that there is greater support for permissive immigration policies because of the large Latino population in a Democratic district and because it is hard to predict the level of white and Spanish-speaking Latino interactions without further research. I predict that media coverage is likely more positive since Latinos are a large part of the district population and thus a large part of the economy. But because of the equally large white population, a big portion of the population likely still accepts the “threat narrative.”

My brief research plan will test my predictions on media coverage. I will research the most popular local news and media outlets as well as proportion of Spanish news outlets. When analyzing the media, I will take a similar approach to how we analyzed our district representative’s Twitter feeds, looking at the news content January 2019 to March 2019 using the key words “immigration,” “immigrant,” “border,” “wall,” “undocumented,” and “Latino.” I will look at the tone of news, estimate the percentage of positive and negative stories, and analyze the content and focus of the news coverage.

Slide 1:

Slide 2:

Slide 3:

Slide 4:

Slide 1: Demographics

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Latinx population of NJ 12 more than doubles from 2007 to 2017 (going from 7.4% to 18.1%). In addition to this, another large demographic shift was seen in the number of foreign-born residents in the district. In 2007 the foreign-born pop. was 13.4%, which then increased to 44.3% in 2017, indicating a +30.9pp. When looking closer at the demographics, one notices an +24.pp increase in naturalized foreign-born residents in the district, indicating that those residents have and will be likely living within the district long-term. While these shifts where the largest increases, the largest decrease of a population in NJ 12 was that of the Asian population which went from 12.6% in 2007, to 5.6% in 2017. In addition to this, while there were many shifts in the demographics, the one group that did not face a similar shift was that of the Black population, experiencing only a +1.8pp increase in population.

Slide 2: Existing Research

When looking for existing research on this topic, one does not need to look far. There is an incredible archive of resources surrounding different demographic shifts and its effects within communities. The three topics the existing research fell into was that of the immigrant experience, the media coverage on immigration, and public opinion on immigration. In terms of immigrant experience, in Enos’ “Causal effect of intergroup contact on exclusionary attitudes,”he talks about the immigrant community at large and the correlation between the increase of immigrants in homogenous areas and how that leads to hostility and negative sentiments towards immigrants. In order to talk more about the immigrant experience, I used PFK’s paper called “The Integration Paradox: Coping Strategies among Immigrant Children in the Age of Mass Deportations,” which talks about how integration of immigrants in a community is easier if there is already a pre-existing large presence of immigrants within said community. However, this is not true when it comes to political representation of Asian immigrants, which was examined by Aptekar’s paper which is titled “Highly Skilled but Unwelcome in Politics: Asian Indians and Chinese in a New Jersey Suburb.” When looking into the research on media coverage on immigration and its effects, I used Abrajano and Sighn 2009 paper which discusses how national immigration coverage tends to typically be negative, especially surrounding Latinx immigration. Whereas, news coverage in Spanish tends to display pro-immigrant sentiments. The fact that the rapid growth of the Latinx population in an area correlates with an increase in negative sentiments towards immigrants and immigration is talked about in Abrajano & Hajnal (2015); Hopkins (2010); Newman (2018); Adida (2018).

Slide 3: Predictions

According to all of the research presented on the previous slide, one can assume that the increase of the Latinx community means that it is likely for there to be an increase of hostile sentiments to the immigrant and Latinx community. As a result of NJ12’s Latinx population increase, it is now on par with the national average of 18% Hispanic. This means that Latinx immigrants should in theory not have too much of a hard time integrating into communities within NJ 12; however, the same cannot be said for Asian immigrants. Regardless if Asian populations are prominent in an area, they most likely will not be represented in local elected office. In regard to media coverage on immigration, since there would likely be news coverage in both English and Spanish due to the demographics of the district, this would likely result in pro-immigrant sentiments in NJ 12. Public opinion on immigration would likely be leaning towards restrictionist sentiments and hostile attitudes would have a possibility of being found in NJ 12 do the rapid large increase of Hispanics in the area. This public opinion, however, is challenged by the levels of education found in the district, as well as the media coverage in the area which would suggest a more welcoming view point on immigrants and immigration.

Slide 4: Research Proposal

While there is a larger Latinx population in NJ 12 than Asian population, integration will be harder for the Latinx population. According to Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, the large population of immigrants in the area should allow for an easier transition into the community; however, this is also conflicted by the fact that there has been a rapic increase of the Latinx population in the area in conjunction with the negative rhetoric surrounding Latinos, which leads to negative sentiments and hostile treatment of them. So, while there is a pre-existing community for new Latinx immigrants, it doesn’t necessarily mean the transition and community they arrive to is a welcoming one. In order to determine whether this is true for NJ 12 or not, I would want to first conduct interviews. The interviews would be focused on members of the Latinx community, including those belonging to the immigrant community, those with family members whom are immigrants, as well as both natural born and naturalized citizens. The theme of their questioning would revolve around support from both non-Latinx/Latinx communities, educational and job aspirations, and perceived perception of how others see them. Another line of questioning would be directed towards the rest of the general population, specifically on their opinion of immigrants (nationally and locally) as well as the nuances between the different types of immigrants. Aside from interviewing, looking into a possible achievement gap in public schools, as well as socioeconomic disparities between demographics (specifically immigrant groups).

Minnesota has one of the smallest migrant population nationally(the national average is about a 14% of our current population being foreign born)  and its fifth district has about 7.04% migrants during the time of our 111th congress and currently during the 115th congress about 6.93% migrants. Since the 1970’s Minnesota has perhaps had one of the most diverse migrant population particularly one of the most diverse Asian Population. Minnesota as a state has seen as much as a 74% (according to some estimates)  increase in Hispanic and Latino population(which still tallies to about a 4.3%) but the immigrant population averages stays to about the same. However, Minnesota as a state experiences the highest migrant population from Asian countries at number one and African refugees at number 2, with Latin American immigrants slowly gaining a rise.Within Minnesota’s 5th district the Trends that are consistent with Minnesota’s national averages. The district itself has a majority white population and minority immigrant population. Something to note about the Data presented in my graphs is that the Hispanic population is not completely reflective since it is conflated with many other races.

Immigration research suggest that migrants tend to be more integrated depending on the resources available, their utilization of these resources and their shaping of these resources(ie.having the political power to do so), and also based on factors like their race, economic status(or at least those associated), and their statuses. Minnesota’s 5th district has a predominant Asian and Somali ( Minnesota actually has the 2nd highest Somalian refugee population in the United States) immigrant population. According to Bloemraad refugee immigrants tend to have a greater odds for integration than other immigrants because of the narrative associated with their status(as deserving because suffering) and because of the resources also provided to them. As suggested by  Sofya Aptekar in the Edison study it seems as though Asian Americans are more likely to be accepted within societies and integrated as long as they do not participate within the politics of that white community and potentially contribute to the “threat narrative”. Public Opinion according to previous research tend to be fueled by narratives both perpetuated in the media and specifically the “threat narrative” correlated and emphasized with different groups(White backlash).

This research is relevant to my district because the immigrants within my district were mostly refugee immigrants and Asian immigrants( those of higher class) who were in part seen as more acceptable(Cynthia Boyd). However, despite the perpetuation of these trends which seem to indicate why immigrants in Minnesota’s 5th district have on average been better integrated into general mainstream society because as mentioned by White Backlash and Bloemraad they pose less of a “threat” because the association to these groups tend to be positive. However, Minnesota’s 5th unlike Edison seems to support immigrant  integration despite their run for political power because of the success of leaders like Omar. However, with the diversifying of immigrants within the state as a whole the narrative might start to differ. Especially with an increase in the hispanic population and the economic diversity of Asian immigrants certainly seems to be already changing the local narrative with people like Boyd pointing out the decrease in economic integration of Asian immigrants because of the different opportunities available.

My potential research plans would be to definitely compare to compare the treatment of older immigrants and contrast it with the treatment of newer immigrants. I want to compare the resources provided from the point of view of organizers for different ethnic groups and seeing whether or not and if so how the challenges for different ethnic, economic groups differ base on their affiliations. I would want to ask different community leaders about the challenges that their constituents see as hindering their integration into dominant society. I would also be interested in seeing whether or not public opinion has affected policies post shut down especially since between 12-25% of Minnesotans  are government employees? For my research I would also like to explore political activist websites and blog forums but my main question would be whether or not this would more along the lines of news and media research project?

Assignment 2

Slide 1

Maryland was redistricted in 2012 after the census. There is a case being heard by the supreme court on whether the redistricting was gerrymandering or not. However, district 4 was changed, therefore the population changed a bit with this redistricting adding more white and Hispanic population and decreasing the black population. However, since 2012 none of the populations have changed very much we see a bit of increase in the white and Hispanic population, but a bit of decrease in the immigrant and black population.

Slide 2

It seems as if most of the readings look to prove ways that media and interaction between immigrants and non-immigrants creates and anti-immigration sentiment in America. I use many of these sources to show examples of how this happens. Such as negative media coverage, the president’s policies, and people seeing immigrants as competition.

Slide 3

Because my area is a black domination population, I thought the most interesting thing is that the low-income blacks would feel more hatred to the immigrant population due to economic competition. I think this may be why the democratic representative has such neutral views on immigration policy. Other than that, I predicted that the news sources would create an anti-immigration policy as they often do and that because the population was not increasing the effect of these anti-immigration sentiments would maybe not be as strong.

Slide 4

My research proposal would be a survey sent out to people in the district to find out if low income blacks economic competition with the immigrant population would have an effect on how the black population felt on immigration policy, I would of course have to compare this with the high-income blacks from the district as well. And the other races.