The following is a paper I wrote for a seminar when I was a graduate in the communication studies department at SJSU in 2017. The course focused on media representations of immigrants in the United States.

Since the United States was established as a nation in 1776, people have emigrated from across the globe, settling in American in search of a better life. Whether in search of freedom from oppression, reprieve from hunger, or in search of paid work that offers enough compensation to support one’s family in one’s country of origin, the United States population is of incredible diversity. According to the Pew Research Center, an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants lived in the United States in 2014, 66% of whom are estimated to have lived in the United States for ten years or more (2016). Although the United States has a long-standing reputation as a land of promise, immigrants, particularly those who have not acquired federal immigration status, are regarded negatively by the American public. Negative media representations of undocumented people shape and perpetuate attitudes and presumptions held by the public. These representations strengthen anti-immigrant narratives in political discourse, reinforcing the fear of being discovered by authorities as an undocumented person. The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the ways in which deliberately negative portrayals of undocumented people as invaders, criminals, and pollutants in various forms of media not only shape public opinion, but perpetuate oppressive and violent hegemonic practices toward undocumented Americans. Continue reading “Strategic Essentialism: Portrayals of Immigrants in American Media” →