How the Normalization of Modern Anti-Immigrant Sentiments Unfolded

For years, language like "illegal aliens" has dominated the conversation about immigration, leading to broad misconceptions

Photo by Chris Boese on Unsplash

Driving narratives about emigrating to the United States “the right way” while ignoring the law and what constitutes legal pathways is nothing less than spreading misinformation. To suggest that anyone who comes to the U.S. via its southern border with Mexico is an “illegal immigrant” is how so many get behind the inhumane and horrifying policy of mass deportations while overlooking the inherent violence such an idea involves.

What most major media outlets get wrong – some would argue intentionally – is that the vast majority of immigrants in the U.S. are here legally. They suddenly began ignoring that crossing the border anywhere, including between points of entry, and claiming asylum within one year of arriving, is perfectly legal. It’s not an illegal border crossing until then.

Additionally, once immigrants present themselves for inspection and are granted entry into the country, they are also legally in the U.S. Therefore, using language like “illegal immigrants” or even “undocumented” is not only inappropriate for the vast majority of immigrants but also helps drive xenophobia and bolster ideas held by the vast majority of hate groups. It opens the door for disinformation like migrants taking over apartment buildings and people believing it.

Truth is, the proper terminology would be noncitizens considering the legality of their status in the country. However, this would also put Latinos, Caribbean Islanders, and Africans, in the same category as the so-called model minority groups like immigrants from Asia who emigrated to the United States the supposed “right way”. The latter groups are oppressed by the system in different ways but putting them all in the same category risks a more unified front for reform.

For example, there are an estimated 1.3 million Indians on the green card backlog out of 1.8 million people. Their status in the country is reliant on their employers’ sponsorship and if they were to lose their jobs, they have a small window to find a new employer willing to sponsor them or they may get deported, separated from their families, and left thousands of miles away. Their families are then left with a loss of income that also disproportionately impacts children.

Despite the similarities faced by all immigrant groups, narratives that suggest other migrants from the Global South emigrate “illegally” leave various groups attacking each other. In many cases, some groups adopt racist white supremacist language and ideas to set themselves apart from the ”illegal immigrants”. In recent years, we’ve seen many Latino immigrants who have been in the U.S. – and their families attack – newer immigrants for coming the wrong way.

It’s an idea that continues to grow and it pits nonwhite groups against each other. History tells us that the U.S. government, with the help of legacy media, has often created programs to prevent coalition building among disenfranchised and marginalized groups. We’ve seen racism injected into feminist and LGBTQ movements alongside the normalization of racist language and misinformation that is often used against other nonwhite groups as well. We are also witnessing homophobic and transphobic ideas inserted into various nonwhite communities.

These differing, yet similarly divisive and bigoted views are how people in nonwhite communities ultimately overlook racism from campaigns like Trump’s. Looking past sexual assaults and outright anti-Black and anti-Latino hatred stems from a belief that mainstream media is driving lies about him. The idea that the truth is misinformation was born out of the growth of hate speech and the normalization of far-right language in our media ecosystem.

From issues of racial justice and trans rights to policing and immigration, the news media has embraced far-right narratives as if to validate them. After the recent election, pundits used reframed definitions of the word “woke,” the largely invalid claims about ”boys in girls’ sports,” and “boys in girls’ bathrooms,” and the use of “illegal immigrants” as narratives to paint them as reasons Democrats lost on such a broad scale.

Meanwhile, they ignored the rightward shift of the Democrat platform trying to paint themselves as pro-gun while also embracing the same narratives pundits expressed. There was nothing woke about any Democrat’s platform, even in the far-right sense. Despite progressives winning where other Democrats lost, pundits and strategists continued to suggest that a progressive platform is what hurt the party so badly (while still embracing far-right narratives).

Now, faced with concentration camps for immigrants who are otherwise in the U.S. legally and subjecting them to forced labor and inhumane conditions, the news media continues to use terminology that attempts to justify the mass incarceration of mostly Latino immigrants. Much like the attempts to manufacture consent for Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians with easily debunked lies, legacy media seems to be trying to justify Trump’s plans ahead of time.

That’s not how to hold truth to power nor is it how we fight fascism.

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I’m a freelance journalist. Find my work at Latino Rebels, Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber or donate on Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp