Framing the end of birthright citizenship: An experimental study of students' perceptions of Trump's executive order

Presentation Type

Abstract

Faculty Advisor

Martina Santia

Access Type

Event

Start Date

25-4-2025 12:00 PM

End Date

25-4-2025 1:00 PM

Description

Shortly after his inauguration on January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order instructing U.S. government agencies to no longer issue citizenship documentation to babies born in the United States to parents without legal status. Although this was one of several immigration-related orders he signed, it quickly sparked heated debates while also attracting widespread attention from national and international media. U.S. media outlets across the political spectrum had to come to terms with the deeply divided sentiments associated with Trump’s order, often employing equivalency framing — that is, presenting the order by either reinforcing its gains or highlighting its losses. The potential end of birthright citizenship presents a unique opportunity to examine how equivalency framing affects public perceptions, particularly among individuals who may be directly affected by such order. In this study, we examine how media framing of the executive order affects the attitudes and perceptions of current Montclair State University undergraduate students. We employ a survey-experiment that manipulates the framing of the executive order by exposing participants to screenshots of real Instagram posts from ABC News and the New York Post. The survey includes questions inquiring about students’ knowledge of this protection within the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, if birthright citizenship impacts the student’s family or someone’s family they may know, and if they agree with this political move to end the policy. The results of the survey will offer valuable insights for understanding how students interpret and react to media framing of a politically charged policy.

Comments

Poster presentation at the 2025 Student Research Symposium.

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Apr 25th, 12:00 PM Apr 25th, 1:00 PM

Framing the end of birthright citizenship: An experimental study of students' perceptions of Trump's executive order

Shortly after his inauguration on January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order instructing U.S. government agencies to no longer issue citizenship documentation to babies born in the United States to parents without legal status. Although this was one of several immigration-related orders he signed, it quickly sparked heated debates while also attracting widespread attention from national and international media. U.S. media outlets across the political spectrum had to come to terms with the deeply divided sentiments associated with Trump’s order, often employing equivalency framing — that is, presenting the order by either reinforcing its gains or highlighting its losses. The potential end of birthright citizenship presents a unique opportunity to examine how equivalency framing affects public perceptions, particularly among individuals who may be directly affected by such order. In this study, we examine how media framing of the executive order affects the attitudes and perceptions of current Montclair State University undergraduate students. We employ a survey-experiment that manipulates the framing of the executive order by exposing participants to screenshots of real Instagram posts from ABC News and the New York Post. The survey includes questions inquiring about students’ knowledge of this protection within the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, if birthright citizenship impacts the student’s family or someone’s family they may know, and if they agree with this political move to end the policy. The results of the survey will offer valuable insights for understanding how students interpret and react to media framing of a politically charged policy.