Perceptions of Immigrants as a Criminal Threat: The Role of Negative Affect and Ethnocentrism.

This article investigates why many Americans perceive immigrants as a criminal threat despite research showing immigrants do not increase—and may even reduce—crime rates in the United States. Using nationally representative data from the 2016 American National Election Studies, the study finds that negative feelings (negative affect) toward "illegal" immigrants, Hispanics, and Muslims, as well as white ethnocentrism (a preference for one's own racial group), are strongly associated with the belief that immigrants increase crime. These perceptions are shaped more by affective and ethnocentric attitudes toward specific ethnic and religious groups than by objective crime data. The findings highlight how racial sentiments and political rhetoric, particularly during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, contribute to the persistence of this false perception, with implications for public opinion, policy, and future research on immigration and crime.