The first weeks of the new Trump administration are set to bring an unprecedented wave of intense, cruel, and chaotic shifts in immigration policy. This pivotal moment will demand press coverage that is informed, factual, and balanced. To ensure audiences understand the profound impacts of Trump’s policies, media outlets and journalists must cut through the noise and deliver clear and accurate reporting. This guide is meant to be a tool to help you cover the imminent actions of President Trump and his allies in Congress.
1) DO Directly Name the Lies and Extremist Language on Immigration
Elected Republicans will lie and employ the rhetoric of deadly bigoted conspiracy theories when discussing immigrants and immigration policy. Part of the political strategy is based on an anticipation of not having to be held to account for this behavior.
The recent New Year’s Eve tragedy in New Orleans provides a clear window into how Trump and his administration will address immigration. In short, the President-elect lied repeatedly.
The perpetrator was a US citizen and a military veteran. Yet, Trump blamed immigrants and the border even after FOX News acknowledged that their initial reporting was wrong. Trump persisted and his falsehoods were echoed by many Republicans.
Some coverage pointed out that Trump’s statements were a “mistake.” Yet, we know based on many examples that even when he learns the facts, he repeats falsehoods to further his agenda.
For example, he often and repeatedly rants about “open borders” even though the borders are not “open.” He rants about the crime rate, which is lower currently than during his administration. As we saw in the New Orleans tragedy, Trump used a domestic terrorism event to scapegoat migrants and continued his baseless “immigrant invasion” rhetoric.
No doubt, Trump and his top aides, Stephen Miller and Tom Homan, and others, will continue to invoke extremist language to advance their agenda. Not too long ago, much of what they said was relegated to the far reaches of white nationalist, racist, and neo-nazi websites. Now that Trump is ready to be inaugurated, we must not normalize his violent rhetoric to justify his policies.
Donald Trump, his closest advisers, and many Republicans regularly recite versions of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, using the same kind of dangerous “invasion” language that was embraced by mass murderers in Pittsburgh, El Paso, and Buffalo. What they are saying is not far off from what the white nationalists in Charlottesville were chanting in August of 2017. There is a long history in the white nationalist movement of invoking the fear that there is an organized plot whereby Jews or elites are intentionally importing non-white immigrants to replace and undermine white natives that white nationalists consider the only true, fully American Americans.
When the word “invasion” is cited as justification for nativist policies, it is not only false, it is part of a concerted effort to invoke the replacement theory. The dehumanizing and deadly “invasion” and “replacement” conspiracies need to be called out, connected to their white nationalist context, and clearly identified as part of a long tradition of racial animus and violence.
2) DO Debunk Political Spin and Disinformation on Mass Deportation
Another reason to directly name the lies is to have the capacity to distinguish the political spin. The hyperbolic rhetoric and obfuscation surrounding immigrants and immigration policy may not be an outright lie but used for political benefit to hide a deeper truth. Exposing the political spin will be of critical importance in covering the mass deportation agenda that is now the Republicans’ top priority.
Republicans spent over one billion dollars on anti-immigrant ads and made “mass deportation” a central element of their campaigns. This unprecedented spending on a single issue has had an impact.
A key but false premise they repeatedly assert is that mass deportation will make the lives of all American citizens better, that the economic situation will improve, and housing will be more readily available. Experts have made clear that the opposite is true. Experts and business leaders contend that mass deportation isn’t just bad for immigrants—it’s bad for everyone and potentially devastating for the economy. There is ample research and reporting that validates the dire impacts of this policy and it should be included in any reporting as a counterweight to the assertions of the new administration. People need to be reminded constantly that the sales pitch for mass deportation does not match reality.
Trump and Vance, as well as their leading surrogates, regularly avoid answering questions about the scope of their mass deportation agenda. With Stephen Miller at the helm, there’s a very good chance the focus will be on creating spectacles, with the message that violent convicted criminal offenders are being targeted. In reality, the people they go after and catch will be hardworking, long-settled immigrants, ensnaring US citizens, and wasting taxpayer dollars.
Thus, it is critical to ask questions and demand specifics. So, when anyone in the incoming administration mentions they will only deport “criminals,” get details, ask for their definition of “criminals.” “Who is a criminal?” “Have they been convicted and gotten their day in court or just accused?” The simple fact that they promise to do away with the prioritization of dangerous criminals as targets for deportation – policies adopted by every recent president – belies their obvious political spin. Republicans have spent an inordinate amount of money and energy defining all undocumented immigrants as criminals. Every person they deport has a story, a family, a community. They are not just numbers.
3) DO highlight the fact that the impacts of mass deportation will be felt across the country.
As David Leopold, former President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and legal advisor to America’s Voice, said last month, “Trump’s mass deportation scheme will target hard-working immigrants who’ve been here for years, raised children, enriched the fabric of our communities but who are prevented from earning U.S. citizenship by Congress’s decades-old failure to fix the immigration law. Trump talks tough about deporting violent criminals but, as we saw during his first four years in office, he’ll remove anyone he can get his hands on.”
Lydia DePillis of The New York Times story wrote in December, “The wave of migrants who arrived during the Biden administration … offset a labor shortage, putting a damper on inflation. With the next administration vowing to seal the border and carry out the largest deportation program in American history, those economic forces could reverse—depending on the degree to which Mr. Trump can fulfill those promises … if Mr. Trump accomplishes anything close to what he has pledged, many economists expect higher prices on goods and services and possibly lower employment rates for American workers.”
In other words, Trump’s mass deportation agenda will undermine the United States economy.
It’s also important to be clear about who is and isn’t being targeted with mass deportations—and where. Both Miller and Homan have made it clear they intend to target cities and states led by Democrat party mayors and governors. That’s not policy—that’s using human beings to score political points.
4) Do give Context, Trump Profited off Exploiting the Very Immigrants He Blames for the Nation’s Problems
Trump’s reliance on immigrant labor is well-established, despite his political rhetoric.
Ironically, the first immigration debate for the incoming administration wasn’t about the border. Instead, it was an intra-GOP fight between Elon Musk and the MAGA base over H1-B visas. In the end, much to the dismay of his MAGA base, Trump sided with Musk and the billionaires.
Despite restricting H1-B visas during his first term, Trump admitted his personal reliance on these visa holders to the New York Post: “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them…I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.” [Note: It is likely that Trump is mistaken and thinking of another visa program his hotels and resorts have used, not the H-1B visas.]
Be that as it may, if “I have many H-1B visas on my properties” is Trump’s new standard for liking immigrants, reporters should also ask why that doesn’t apply to undocumented workers because he’s had many working on his properties as well.
In December of 2019, the Washington Post reported: “Tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate,” Trump said in his State of the Union address this year. “It is cruel.”
But, in private, Trump’s company relied on the same kind of undocumented workers he was vilifying, according to the accounts of 48 current and former Trump workers interviewed by The Washington Post.
For years—including during Trump’s presidency—the Trump Organization employed undocumented workers as housekeepers, waiters, groundskeepers, and stonemasons.
Last month, Paul Waldman wrote, “My guess is that if you told the average Trump voter that he employs undocumented workers and has for decades, they’d refuse to believe you. It just doesn’t make sense;” how could he so obviously hate immigrants, but also want to exploit them? Of course, it makes perfect sense and your audiences should know it.
This fact should be part of all reporting as should reports of other prominent Trump donors who employ undocumented workers.
Paul Krugman wrote in a Bluesky thread “If you think choices of who gets raided and who doesn’t will be unrelated to political connections and probably financial payoffs, I have a degree from Trump University you may want to buy.”
5) Be clear about Birthright Citizenship
One key plank of Trump’s agenda is to end “birthright citizenship,” which is granted by the U.S. Constitution. Trump adviser/Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach recently told the Associated Press, “I believe that the Trump administration has every intention of addressing this issue, in his second term.”
This issue warrants special attention because of its potential impact on so many American citizens, especially children whose parents may be swept up in deportations. But, it also has the potential to affect prominent players in the Trump administration, for example, Usha Vance. Does she lose her citizenship since her parents were not citizens when she was born?
This radical proposal would also remake the foundations of US citizenship for the last 150 years, redefining who is an American based on the perception of the MAGA coalition.
When the Trump team pursues this attack on birthright citizenship, the full implications should be reported.
Conclusion
The Trump administration’s volume of immigration policymaking – and their related assertions and disinformation – will pose an ongoing challenge for the media to describe accurately.
In addition to this guide,America’s Voice will remain an ongoing resource to assess developments and discuss implications. Email press@americasvoice.org to connect.