Crossing the Admission Policies Divide: The Role of Cross‑cutting Media Consumption and Media Trust on Immigration Attitudes Polarization

This study investigates whether cross-cutting media consumption and media trust can reduce issue polarization on migrant admission policies in the United States. Using survey data from 1,262 U.S. adults, the analysis reveals that greater consumption of both traditional and digital cross-cutting media weakens the alignment between political candidate preference (Trump vs. Biden) and attitudes toward restrictive admission policies. News media trust further moderates this effect, with higher trust associated with reduced attitudinal divides. However, the depolarizing effect is stronger among low-trust individuals, suggesting that motivated reasoning may limit the impact of counter-attitudinal exposure among high-trust partisans. While cross-cutting media consumption appears more influential among Biden supporters, Trump voters' attitudes remain comparatively stable. These findings underscore the potential and limitations of diverse news exposure and news media trust in mitigating polarization, offering timely insights for fostering constructive dialogue on immigration policy.