Being a part of a pro immigrant movement I usually welcome media attention at any event we may have in fact many times I have been a proponent of creating events that are media friendly or accessible because of the obvious benefits. If you have media present at your event your message will reach a larger audience. However with all of the recent television coverage on immigration because of the Arizona law I have noticed an alarming trend. While I was well aware of left wing news conspiracy theories and the unbalanced reporting of Fox news it was not until I joined the pro-immigrant movement that I noticed that the majority of people in the movement felt that the English news media was biased against them. Many of them in fact believed that the Spanish news media was also biased against the movement. While I don’t completely share the view that many of my peers do I have noticed the English media specifically harming the pro-immigrant movement. At times it is deliberate at others it isn’t but overall it seems any coverage on the issue of immigration in the media is potentially negative. One of the reasons is the use of the word “Illegal Immigrant” to refer to undocumented immigrants. This word is accepted and widely used by most people including those in the media. The reason that this hurts the movement is that the word illegal carries a lot of negative weight and creates negative perceptions. For something to be recognized as illegal it must be a crime and people who commit crimes are criminals. So when the American people are presented with comprehensive immigration reform many of them feel that they are being presented with a plan that helps or rewards criminals. If we replace the word “illegal” with the word “undocumented” than the American people would have a different view of undocumented immigrants, because the word undocumented creates different perceptions ones that are not as negative. The word undocumented refers to someone without a document and a person without a document is someone who is missing something in the case of immigration it’s permission. So if the word undocumented became prevalent when confronted with comprehensive immigration reform the American people may see it as a way to give permission to people who are missing it. It’s a lot easier for the average American to come to terms with immigration reform if were talking about people who are here without permission rather than people who are criminals. This is because while most people are not criminals most people have done something at some point in their lives without permission. The use of words in the media has a huge effect on the way people feel about different subjects. Which is why every time there is a report on immigration even if it’s a positive one but they refer to undocumented immigrants as “illegal” it actually hurts the movement and the opportunity of immigration reform. It doesn’t matter how many positive stories you make or how many facts you have that show that undocumented immigrants actually contribute to the economy or how many myths you expose if the initial premise is that undocumented people are criminals all of those things will do no good. In order to start having a real conversation about immigration and make strides toward achieving comprehensive immigration reform we need to correct the language used by the mainstream media but it can’t end there it has to spread within society and it has to start with us. If we don’t use the correct language how can we expect others too.
