“No Immigrant Families Should Live in Fear”: Analyzing Anti-Latinx Migrant Narratives and Resisting Xenophobia on Social Media

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Date

2023-05

Authors

Tavares, TaylorRose

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Oregon

Abstract

This undergraduate thesis explores two dominant narratives, the “Come Here” Narrative and the “Latino Threat” Narrative, in US immigration policies and public discourse. The project contends that the “Come Here” Narrative, named by the author, narrowly values Latinx migrants as sources of cheap labor for a capitalist economy. Meanwhile, the “Latino Threat” Narrative deems these individuals a threat to white US America’s culture and economy (Chavez, 2008). The author argues that the Trump Administration’s policies (2016-2020) targeting Latinx migrants were driven by and supported the latter narrative. Notably, this presidency coincided with the increased reliance on social media to communicate xenophobic claims. Using an interdisciplinary lens, the author defines and explains several concepts, including race, racialization, systems of power, illegality, deportability, and disposability. The thesis then explores how these concepts are influenced by policy and how policy shapes understandings of racialization and othering. To do so, the author analyzes social media posts about the Bracero Program and the 2019 Public Charge Rule to understand how the “Come Here” and “Latino Threat” narratives existed simultaneously and how the latter rhetoric emerges strongly in online spaces. The studied rhetoric features both conservative figures and migrant justice groups and advocates. The thesis concludes with a call for readers to act in defense of migrant justice both online and offline.

Description

51 pages

Keywords

Latinx, Migrant, Social Media, Public Charge, Bracero, Migrant Narratives

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