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Despite strong evidence that immigration does not increase crime, news coverage portraying immigrants as criminal threats remains widespread. While these portrayals are well documented, less is known about whether they shape patterns of criminal justice contact—particularly for Hispanics, who are often stereotyped as undocumented and criminal regardless of their legal status. Drawing on a decade of local television news broadcasts and arrest data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (2009–2018), we examine whether media portrayals of immigrant-perpetrated violent crime influence Hispanic arrest outcomes. Fixed-effects panel models show that such coverage is associated with higher Hispanic arrest rates, particularly for more discretionary arrests, including those made on-view and for drug-related offenses. These findings suggest that media coverage may contribute to racialized enforcement outcomes, underscoring the broader implications of politicized immigration discourse for Hispanic communities.
Muchow et al. (Tue,) studied this question.