As the 2016 election grinds on, we’ve seen the same policy issues arise over and over again. With the refugee crisis worsening on an international scale, the United States is under pressure to reform its immigration policies accordingly, and both Presidential candidates have their own proposals for moving forward.
The way Americans receive and decide which policies they will align with has much to do with the connotation of the words surrounding the entire immigration debate. For some, the word “immigrant,” especially “illegal immigrant,” is synonymous with “Latino” or “Hispanic.” With Donald Trump’s call to build a wall along the Mexican-American border, this is especially true. But, when looking at the numbers from a Pew Research study, Asians are actually on track to become the largest immigrant group in the United States.
In an NPR interview with Erika Lee, a professor of Asian-American history at the University of Minnesota, Lee says that Americans see Latino immigration as much more of a problem than Asian immigration, even though the numbers are smaller. This is because Asians are viewed as a “model minority” – as a group that achieves academically and economically across the board. Lee says that this label is largely “misleading,” and she is worried that the stigma surrounding Asian immigration will turn sour, as it was several decades ago in the U.S.
Lee illustrates the ability of an entire candidate’s policy stance to be grounded on an idea that is based as heavily on a stigma as it is on actual facts. Through years and years of immigration policy discussion in the public arena, Americans have begun to think of immigration very specifically, rather than considering new trends and studies that actually change the entire landscape.
I completely agree with your take on connotations! I think Americans in general associate a negative connotation to the word “immigration” with the Mexican border because we hear about criminal activity taking place over there. We don’t necessarily hear these stories from places like Canada or Asia (like you mentioned), so we don’t place a negative connotation on these immigrants. While I don’t believe Trump was calling all Mexican immigrants “rapists” or “criminals,” I do think his rhetoric has shaped many people’s beliefs on our immigration system. He got people riled up based on emotional appeal. Had Trump differentiated his word choice, we may not be having this conversation to the extent we are having it today.
The negative connotation that surrounds the word immigrant is real and I truly believe that Trump’s campaign has made the perception of it much worse than before. I find it so sad that people believe that one type of immigrant (specifically Mexicans) are much worse than any other. As a daughter of two immigrants (my parents are from Germany & France) I have had many disputes about immigration and when I disclose that my parents are immigrants originating from Europe, people treat them as if they are a whole different breed of immigrants. People have LITERALLY said to me, “well that’s just not the same.. I’m talking about Mexican immigrants..”….. I am like…WHAT?!??! Trump has done a good job in creating rhetoric that describes Mexican immigrants as people who should be feared. However, there are many other types of immigrants that enter the US (like the above comment reflects) and I believe that the way Trump targets a single crowd of immigrants not only reveals his ignorance on the immigration topic, but also reveals his values as a person- almost bully-like.