Uploaded by karen0solano

The Immigration Paradox

advertisement
Solano Gomez 1
Karen Solano Gomez
Professor Purnur Ozbirinci
English 5
13 May 2023
The Immigration Paradox:
Media’s Influence on Immigration
“The system is not broken, it was created to work this way,”(00:45:00) remarks Lourdes
Lee Vasquez, director and producer of The Immigration Paradox (2014), in her documentary.
The topic of Immigration has long been debated in United States politics. More recently, Latinx
people have been at the front of this issue with many of them fleeing to the U.S. in search of
financial and safety security. Oftentimes they will enter without proper documentation, which is
what causes the controversy among U.S. citizens. Vasquez explains in the beginning of the
documentary that she was at the scene of an immigration protest where she was witnessing both
sides, Anti-Immigrant and Pro-Immigrant, yell at eachother with an intense amount of anger
and rage. She found herself yelling back with the same emotions and figured that if such strong
feelings drove her to defend her “side” this passionately then the opposing protestors would
likely be feeling the same anger as well, but why? The rest of the documentary focuses on
Vasquez attempting to find the answer to her question. As Vasquez expresses through her
documentary, The Immigration Paradox challenges viewers to reconsider what media outlets
they use to obtain their news regarding immigration from. Throughout the film, she presents us
with multiple perspectives from a diverse group consisting of U.S. citizens, Latinx Immigrants,
and even representatives of Immigration centered organizations. Though they didn’t necessarily
agree, Vazques found that all of the groups were influenced to take their stance on Immigration
based on the type of media they consumed. As described in Vasquez’s The Immigration
Solano Gomez 2
Paradox, Media bias and manipulation against Latinx immigrants has and continues to cause an
unnecessary divide amongst United States citizens.
Throughout the film, Vazquez presents us with various examples in recent Immigration
history in which the media has drawn a negative light towards Latinx Immigrants. In one
example, Alejandro Hemorsillo, an immigrant interviewed by Vazques in the film, shares how
the media has impacted his life. He shares, “If I watch Univision in Spanish, all they talk about is
all the reforms, another raid, and they just keep talking and making a big chisme [or gossip]
about them coming for us…You know, going on the streets I can’t be safe anywhere anymore.
The cops used to take care of me, now they’re just hunting me down” (Vazquez 00:07:06). Many
Latinx immigrants live in the same fear as Hermosillo because of a certain prejudice placed upon
them by media distortion. In another interview by Vazquez, Dr. Micheal L. Schwalbe, a professor
of Sociology at NC State, shares, “There’s no raw, neutral unmediated information. It’s always
from a particular point of view and it’s always interpreted from a particular point of view”
(Vazquez 00:10:40). The biggest reason for a divide in supporters on the issue of immigration is
because the news they are receiving is written and produced by someone with an opinion on the
issue. It’s necessary for media consumers to become aware of the bias that comes with their
news. Though the issue of media manipulation against Latinx immigrants arised a few years ago,
it continues to be an issue in modern day media further causing a split amongst Americans.
To begin, there are specific strategies used by media platforms today to frame Latinx
immigrants as enemies. Jessie K. Finch, author of Undocumented Immigrants in the United
States: An Encyclopedia of their Experiences (2014), discusses the negative nature of news
coverage and his findings in detail. He shares, “Studies have noted print media’s framing of
illegal immigration using metaphors of war (‘under siege,’ ‘invasion,’ ‘defending/holding the
Solano Gomez 3
line,’ ‘sneaking in’) and natural disasters (‘floods of workers,’ ‘surges,’ ‘opening the floodgates,’
stemming the ‘tide’), and references to immigrants using dehumanizing imagery (‘round ups,’
‘swarms’)” (Finch 458). After being regularly referenced with such anxiety-provoking language,
it’s understandable why for many the topic of Immigration can strike a feeling of threat towards
the audience. Specifically in reference to the metaphors of war, this sort of language is what
further causes a divide amongst Americans. Finch adds, “Immigration coverage has also been
linked with an ‘us versus them’ framing of the issue, emphasizing the ‘otherness’, foreignness,
and alienation of immigrants” (Finch 458). These strategies of both discrimination and
manipulation have been successful in creating a divide on the issue. The representation of
immigrants from other countries is depicted as that of an “unknown entity” entering to live
amongst U.S. inhabitants. Though they pose no serious threat, media reports on immigrants lead
the public to believe they are invading the United States ultimately creating an enemy. Therefore,
media outlets can be deemed as partially responsible for creating and enforcing the divide
amongst U.S. citizens and immigrants.
Moreover, studies regarding media impact further confirmed its damaging effects on
intergroup relations between U.S. citizens and Latinx immigrants. In one study titled Media’s
Influence on Immigration Attitudes: An Intergroup Threat Theory Approach (2016) conducted by
Anita Atwell Seate and Dana Mastro, professors in the Departments of Communications at
UCSB and University of Maryland, participants were asked to watch one of two news segments
which either contained negative implications of immigration, “including increases in crime,
threats to US culture, and threats to the economy” (Seate and Mastro 202) or a neutral segment
which was made up of positive influences of immigration. They then followed up with a
questionnaire about demographic information, including a few questions about immigration.
Their research concludes that:
Solano Gomez 4
The findings from the current study suggest that when individuals experience
intergroup anxiety stemming from the media’s depiction of immigration threats, they
report attitudes that are congruent with ingroup protection mechanisms. Intergroup
anxiety appears also to be associated with both perceiving immigrants as deserving of
fewer human rights and supporting stricter immigration policy. (Seate and Mastro
208)
If news outlets continue to depict Immigrants, especially Latinx immigrants, as such dangerous
enemies, it’s only natural for U.S. citizens to feel threatened enough by news outlets to want to
protect themselves from danger by implementing firmer immigration policies. With their study,
Seate and Mastro have provided sufficient evidence for one to conclude that the consumption of
discriminatory media does in fact have negative consequences on consumers. In another study
titled The Negative Effects of Mass Media Stereotypes of Latinos and Immigrants (2016)
conducted by Tyler Reny and Sylvia Manzano, graduate students at UCLA, Reny and Manzano
look to answer what kinds of stereotypes people hold of Latinxs and whether or not the media
enforces these stereotypes. In concluding their research, they find that:
In particular, those who consume and trust conservative media are more likely to agree
with negative stereotypes and hold less favorable views about Latinos and immigrants
while those who consume and trust liberal media are slightly more likely to reject those
negative stereotypes and hold more favorable views of Latinos and immigrants. (Reny
and Manzano 209)
In the study, Reny and Manzano also mention that conservative media generally contains
manipulative and distressing language and imagery, as mentioned previously. Because a
particular set of television news stations choose to support and present topics with political bias,
consumers run the risk of being unconsciously influenced by whichever news platform they
Solano Gomez 5
usually access. Accordingly, one can conclude that the media itself is responsible for the
intergroup division of U.S. inhabitants. As proven with sufficient research and evidence, it can
be inferred that Media consumption directly correlates to negative preconceived opinions of
Latinx immigrants.
Media bias and manipulation against Latinx immigrants has and continues to sever the
American community. Through use of frightful language, misinterpreted imagery, and other
similar tactics, all forms of media in the United States have developed a stigma around Latinx
immigrants. In order to destigmatize the Latinx community and get rid of the division between
anti- and pro-immigrant supporters,
Works Cited
Atwell Seate, Anita, and Dana Mastro. "Media's Influence on Immigration Attitudes: An
Intergroup Threat Theory Approach." Communication Monographs, vol. 83, no. 2, 2016,
pp. 194–213, https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2015.1068433. Accessed 12 May 2023.
Finch, Jessie K. "Media Coverage." Undocumented Immigrants in the United States: An
Encyclopedia of Their Experience, edited by Anna Ochoa O'Leary, vol. 2, Greenwood,
2014, pp. 457-460. Gale eBooks,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX6589300157/GVRL?u=library&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=0
3c68653. Accessed 12 May 2023.
The Immigration Paradox. Dir. Lourdes Lee Vasquez. The Immigration Paradox Movie, 2014.
Kanopy. https://santarosa.kanopy.com/video/immigration-paradox
Reny, Tyler, and Sylvia Manzano. The Negative Effects of Mass Media Stereotypes of Latinos
and Immigrants. UCLA, PhD dissertation. Google Scholar, Google,
Solano Gomez 6
scholar.google.com.http://tylerreny.github.io/pdf/pubs/reny_manzano_stereotypes_2016.p
df. Accessed 12 May 2023.
Download