Framing Fear: Loss Aversion and Availability in Trump’s Immigration Rhetoric

This paper examines the role of the cognitive biases of the availability heuristic and loss aversion in shaping voter preferences and public support for Donald Trump’s immigration rhetoric and policies. The study, grounded in behavioral economics, examines how loss-framed narratives, such as those of economic and cultural threats posed by immigration, mobilize voter support by leveraging fears of perceived losses. Simultaneously, Trump’s reliance on emotive anecdotes amplifies the salience of isolated events, distorting public perception of immigrants as disproportionately linked to crime and economic strain. Despite empirical evidence highlighting the economic contributions and lower crime rates among immigrant populations, these biases, namely the availability heuristic and loss aversion, drive support for stringent immigration measures, including travel bans and deportations for particular immigrant groups. This paper argues for corrective measures such as embedding anecdotal narratives within public campaigns, policy-making forums, and educational curricula alongside enhancing public data literacy to mitigate these biases in political discourse and voter choices.