About

This group will track the media and political rhetoric surrounding the “criminal alien,” locating the development of stereotypes and “moral panics” which lead to the justification of deportations.

With Central American immigration to the countries southern border, media outlets ranging from Breitbart to the Times to Jezebel are discussing whether the Administration’s policies have been, or can be efficient in “deterring” asylum seekers from these regions. Meanwhile Republican politicians run on a platform which points out the perceived fallacies of the Sanctuary movement, causing Democrats to engage in arguments which problematically extols the “exceptional” and “model” immigrant as deserving protection - granting political salience to the criminalisation of immigrants.