Trump’s Lies: An Examination of the Fictitious Perception of Latin American Immigrants as Violent Criminals

Trump’s presidency created a heightened scrutiny of immigrants, specifically Latin American immigrants, as his initiative focused on building a wall on the Mexico-US border. Trump’s extreme xenophobic speech was disseminated by the media, influencing the public to perceive Latin American immigrants as dangerous individuals responsible for violent crime. This is despite Latin American immigrants committing crimes at lower rates than native-born citizens. Further, his presidency continued the American criminalization of immigration as he enacted punitive and discriminatory policies and legislation. This thesis expands on previous scholarly work by examining the impact Trump’s anti-immigrant messages had on the media and public opinion. The data obtained through a discourse analysis of CNN and Fox News articles and transcripts determined an increase in negative immigrant sentiments, immigrant-crime conversations, and Latin American immigrant political blaming throughout Trump’s candidacy and presidency when compared to before his involvement in the political sphere. This is noteworthy as the media and domestic audience influence the enactment of policies that disproportionately target immigrants, misconstruing crime rates and further perpetuating the wrongful criminal-immigrant narrative (CIN).