<<

THE “HUMANITARIAN CRISIS” ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER: ENGLISH AND SPANISH MEDIA COVERAGE OF UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANT CHILDREN FROM CENTRAL AMERICA Cynthia Powell Undergraduate Honors Thesis in Sociology

BACKGROUND EMERGING THEMES SUMMARY

• While the migration of unaccompanied minors is not new, the number of Reasons for Migrating English versus Spanish unaccompanied minors coming from Central America rose dramatically The major reasons cited by the were: escaping the rampant violence in Honduras, El Salvador, and Contrary to what I predicted, the English newspapers covered the in the past couple of years. Guatemala; reunification with family members in the United States; and a rumor spread by coyotes, or human unaccompanied minors more than the Spanish newspapers. smugglers, that minors would be allowed to stay and work/study once they entered the United States. • However, the English newspapers had more opinion pieces than their • In July 2014, was estimated that somewhere between 50,000 and • “With just $40 in his pocket and the killing of two fresh in his mind, 13-year-old Leonardo Enrique Spanish equivalent. 60,000 unaccompanied minors had crossed the United States-Mexico Navas set off from El Salvador in July and traveled alone for 15 days on buses and taxis until he crossed the border since October 2013. Many of these minors came from Honduras, border into Texas” The English and Spanish newspapers covered many of the same things, El Salvador, and Guatemala. o Tribune article but the English newspapers were much more likely to include the voices of those in favor of deporting the children to their country of origin. • At the time, it was projected that over 90,000 unaccompanied minors Journey to the United States • English newspapers published entire opinion pieces that spoke would arrive in the United States by of 2014. The journey from Central America to the United States was often mentioned, too. It ranged from riding the freight against letting the children stay. trains through Mexico and crossing with the help of coyotes to the abuse, hunger, and fear they endured during the trip. • The government was not prepared for the large number of minors • Spanish newspapers also included some of the opinions of people • Translation: “Rape, assault, hunger and cold. This is the "frightening nightmare" Central American minors leading President Obama to declare the influx an “urgent humanitarian who did not sympathize with the children within the articles, but passing through Mexico to reach the United States endure, as recounted in by a Honduran teenager who situation” on June 2, 2014. they tended to keep a sympathetic tone towards the minors. would "never again" repeat the trip.” • Following the president’s statement, the topic of unaccompanied minors o article became widely discussed throughout the summer with people arguing over whether or not they should be allowed to stay. Conditions Upon Arrival Another common theme was the discussion of the status of the migrant children upon arrival to the United States. This • Although there is a lot of research on the adult migration and the media included their apprehension in South Texas, detention under border agencies, and transfer to shelters throughout the portrayal of it throughout different countries, there is not much research country. on child migration in general. • “At one cell window, a crowd of boys had gathered, their faces a mix of curiosity, nerves and fatigue. They whispered to one another but never acknowledged the visitors. Some looked mischievous, others exhausted. Some appeared beyond tears, their eyes red-rimmed.” EXPECTATIONS, DATA, AND METHODS article Left: Children sleeping at Brownsville, TX facility (Source: Hoy); Right: Minors on o Mexican freight trains known as “La Bestia” (Source: Chicago Tribune) Research Questions • How were the Central American minors being portrayed in the media? CONCLUSIONS 25 Newspap14 Articles Local National News Opinion Other Total Were there differences in the way they are portrayed by the English er (N) media versus the Spanish media? Did the media of one language cover 12 20 El Nuevo 3 10 4 2 5 0 24 • Although there are some differences between the English and Spanish Herald (12.50%) (41.67%) (16.67%) (8.33%) (20.83%) (0.00%) them more than the other? 10 coverage of the unaccompanied minors, they also shared 15 The 7 3 0 0 18 2 30 many similarities. Most of the articles gave more voice to those El Nuevo Herald 8 Miami (23.33%) (10.00%) (0.00%) (0.00%) (60.00%) (6.67%) Series 3 Hypotheses The Herald supporting the migrant children. 10 Series 2 Hoy 6 • H1: Spanish media outlets would have more coverage of the Hoy 0 12 8 0 0 0 20 Series 1 Chicago Tribune (0.00%) (60.00%) (40.00%) (0.00%) (0.00%) (0.00%) unaccompanied minors 5 4 • The media portrayal of the Central American migrant children in this • H2: English and Spanish media will differ in how they tell the stories Chicago 0 0 15 18 12 2 47 Tribune2 (0.00%) (0.00%) (31.91%) (25.53%) (25.53%) (4.26%) study were not very comparable to the portrayal of adult Latino of the unaccompanied minors. 0 Section 10 23 29 20 35 4 121 migrants. Total0 Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Data Volume of Coverage by Week Articles Broken Down by Category per Newspaper • Some ideas for further research would include studying newspapers of • 121 newspaper articles from Miami and Chicago cities to the border to see how the proximity would affect the o English: The Miami Herald and Chicago Tribune portrayals and looking at television news segments to compare their Government Action o Spanish: El Nuevo Herald and Hoy portrayal of the children. The final theme that developed had to do with the government and the actions that were taken to handle the

Methods inflow of unaccompanied minors. Most of the opinion articles were critical of the steps taken or proposed • Gathered the dates and number of articles to capture the volume of by the Obama administration and Congress. FURTHER READING coverage • “Obama's to tackle the migrant crisis with $3.7 billion in emergency government funds is in 1. http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/10/us/immigrant-children/index.html? sr=tw101014immigrantchildren6ainteractivephotoSecond reference • Read through all the articles to capture emerging themes trouble because the deeply divided Congress leaves on a month-long recess late next week and is 2. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812246047/ref=cm_sw_su_dp • Collected information on the section the articles were listed under to increasingly unlikely to approve the money.” track any differences in how they were categorized o Chicago Tribune article