Representation in the Media

The group I would like to represent within my project are Immigrants. Immigrants are generally seen as foreigners who come to the United States, especially, to take the jobs from American citizens. Furthermore, individuals assume they are here on illegal status and do not deserve the same rights and opportunities.

In CBS News article called Undocumented workers say Trump golf club hired them despite their immigration status, Trump’s business supposedly hired individuals with an undocumented status in the United States and had prior knowledge to this before they were appointed for the job; additionally, the manager gave her money to get a fake green card and social security number. Here, immigrants are represented as struggling through societies difficulties. They cannot legally find a job without legal residency status in the United States, but found a contingency in order to make money to survive. They knew that assessing this issue about Trump’s unethical business practices would make them eligible to losing their jobs; however, they morally did so anyway. This represents immigrants as moral because they aim to follow the rules even when they know it is wrong.

In a news article in Cut called The Trump Administration is Still Ripping Kids From Their Families at the Border, it discusses the federal laws put in place to diminish the amount of illegal immigration in the United States throughout the Mexican border, no matter the consequence. Immigrants here are demonstrated as isolated and helpless as they cannot do anything to protect themselves since they have no legal rights in the United States. However, they come to seek refuge from the dangerous economic and political arena in Mexico. It is evident that they are ignoring legal practices, but they do so morally understanding that the risk to safety is better than the risk of staying in their little-opportunistic country.

The representation characteristics reveal the struggle and isolation that comes with migrating from one’s country of birth to another, by taking the risk of being deported back. I believe their stories of why they chose to come here are represented lightly as they are not discussed heavily in comparison to the issues they pose when they come to the United States, such as economic disparity. The representation characteristics that I would retain would be the feelings of displacement in the new country they immigrate to, as well as how this impacts society as a whole. Immigrants are viewed as dangerous simply because they are exposed to violent governments and groups single-handedly, which is unfair. Their strength to overcome these issues to leave behind their entire life for the opportunity for a new one is never mentioned. Stereotypically, they are depicted as the “problem;” however, their attempt to best adapt to the drastic lifestyle changes they are faced with is ignored.