Pandemic Times and Health Care Exclusion: Attitudes toward Health Care Exclusion of Undocumented Immigrants.

Context: Most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States are excluded from government health care programs. Yet, health care inequities pose significant dangers to all members of society during a pandemic. This project explores to what extent undocumented immigrants, in the context of a pandemic, can be seen as deserving of access to government health care programs.

Methods: The project's first survey experiment explores whether work ethic can affect perceptions of undocumented immigrants as deserving of government health care programs. The second survey experiment tests to what extent appeals to fairness and self-interest, during a pandemic, shape health care deservingness attitudes.

Findings: The results show that respondents view undocumented immigrants as less deserving of health care than citizens, even when undocumented immigrants have a solid work history. The second survey experiment, however, shows that appeals to fairness and self-interest trigger substantial increases in support for undocumented immigrants among both Republicans and Democrats.

Conclusions: The results suggest that while undocumented immigrants are seen as less deserving of access, appeals to fairness and self-interest can trigger increased support.