On June 16, 2015, Donald Trump stepped on stage in Trump Tower in New York City and formally announced his plans to run for president. One of the largest focuses of his announcement speech centered on immigration, more specifically Mexican immigration. He made comments stating that Mexico is currently sending only sending the worst of its population such as rapist and drug dealers into the United States (Ye Hee Lee 2015). Trump is a recent example how the popular media influences the racial prejudice towards immigrants, however, this is not a recent development. Some of the first anti-immigrant sentiment is only a couple of centuries old. Between 1815 and 1865, the United States received one of the largest European immigration waves it had …show more content…
Easily the most famous example of this pervasive stereotype is presidential candidate Donald Trump stating that Mexico is only sending the worst of its population, including those who bring drugs, crime, and rape (Ye Hee Lee 2015). The CAP Immigration Team (2014) points out that in 2007, the incarceration rates for young adults born in the United States was 3.5%, while for foreign-born, young adults, the rate was only 0.7%. In 2013, 17.6% of drug-trafficking cases, 3.8% of sexual-abuse crimes, and 17.2% of drug-related incarcerations were committed by illegal immigrants (Ye Hee Lee 2015). Clearly, Donald Trump’s “facts” and any other notions that Latino-immigration brings both crime and criminals is …show more content…
People who constantly hear negative portrayals of immigrants on television ultimately boast negative opinions towards Latino immigrants, while news stations presenting positive messages about Latino immigrants elicit more favorable responses from their viewers when asked about their thoughts on immigration. The NHMC (2012) study found that the majority of people only see negative depictions of immigrants on television, therefore the majority of people carry anti-immigrant sentiments. In fact, a startling figure presented by their study determined that 17% of participants surveyed believed that Latino-American and unauthorized immigrants were the same