Over at BearingArms.com, after noting that gun rights supporters support immigration enforcement, although the two issues aren't directly related, they note an attack on gun rights and immigration restriction by two professors.
A recent study funded in part by the National Science Foundation argues that those who are pro-gun and pro-death penalty actually dehumanize immigrants, thus making it easier to mistreat them.
An online study that pulled equally from people who identify as Democrats or Republicans has found subtle new clues that underlie views about immigrants.
The words people use and their beliefs about social harms, such as the death penalty and gun rights, can predict attitudes favoring harsh treatment and the dehumanization of illegal immigrants, report University of Oregon researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study, conducted by UO communication professor David M. Markowitz and UO psychologist Paul Slovic, appeared online April 16 ahead of print. In the study, the pair dug deeper into the characteristics of those who dehumanize immigrants—beyond often-discussed factors such as hatred toward outside groups and extreme racism.
Study On Immigration Views Betrays Anti-Gun Bias In Research,by Tom Knighton, April 25, 2020 (Emphasis added)
The link on "dehumanization" above is in the original, a quote from a Phys.org on story on why you and I are Bad People, and it goes to a total of three stories, the first one is the one they're talking about:
Views on guns and death penalty are linked to harsh treatment of immigrants
An online study that pulled equally from people who identify as Democrats or Republicans has found subtle new clues that underlie views about immigrants. April 23, 2020
Study finds troubling consequences for anti-Muslim and anti-Mexican attitudes and actions
The President's recent Executive Order is attempting to close U.S. borders to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, with the rationale that it would make Americans safer against the threat of terrorism. But new research ... February 06, 2017
Study shows media play role in dehumanizing immigrants and refugees
A new study from Western University suggests that the news media may take advantage of an existing uncertainty and unease around immigration policies and the treatment of immigrants and refugees to create a crisis mentality ... September 23, 2013
Just a reminder that Phys.org is for physicists, and covers "Nanotechnology, Physics, Earth, Astronomy & Space, Technology, Chemistry, Biology, and Other Sciences." This nonsense is the "Other Sciences".
Views on guns and #deathpenalty are linked to harsh treatment of immigrants @PNASNews https://t.co/NCCXgofKTR
— Phys.org (@physorg_com) April 23, 2020
The study, as BearingArms's Tom Knighton points out, has bias against normal Americans baked in.
Journalism professor David M. Markowitz [Email him] and psychologist Paul Slovic [Email him] assume that supporting gun rights and the death penalty for murder are "social harms" and supporting jail terms for illegals are also social harms.
From the Phys.org story:
The researchers next focused on how dehumanization connected to social harms. Those who endorsed social harms related to protecting American rights to own guns, the death penalty and harsh raids on immigrants tended to dehumanize more and identified as conservative. Such individuals were also more likely to endorse lengthy jail time for illegal immigrants.
The actual study is available at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences:
This study extends the current body of work on dehumanization by evaluating the social, psychological, and demographic correlates of blatant disregard for immigrants. Participants (n = 468) were randomly assigned to read a scenario where 1) an immigrant or 2) an immigrant and their child were caught illegally crossing the southern border of the United States, and then rated how long they should spend in jail if convicted. Participants reported that they would sentence the immigrant to more jail time than the immigrant and child. Those who sent immigrants to jail for more time also viewed them as socially distant and less human, described immigration in impersonal terms, and endorsed other social harms unrelated to immigration (e.g., the death penalty for convicted murderers). Crucially, endorsed social harms accounted for explained variance beyond simply holding conservative views. We position these data within the current literature on dehumanization theory and immigration issues.
Social, psychological, and demographic characteristics of dehumanization toward immigrants, April 16, 2020. (Emphases added)
Here's my point: Markowitz and Slovic are dehumanizing the unarmed victims of crime, dehumanizing the victims of Mexican rapists, dehumanizing murder victims, and dehumanizing the majority of Americans who support both sending illegals back, punishing border jumpers, and exercising their Constitutional right to defend themselves.
