Skip to main content

Lives in Cages: A Media Analysis of Incarceration Experiences Across Generations on the US-Mexico Border

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Incarceration and Generation, Volume II

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

  • 284 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter examines media narratives on the incarceration experiences of migrant families in detention centers on the US–Mexico border. Past literature analyses perceptions of migrants as a whole or focuses on adult detainees, being there is a lack of research on perceptions towards migrant children and families. By comparing three major media outlets in the US—CNN, FOX, and CBS—a thematic analysis is conducted to explore (i) how migrants are portrayed, either adults, children or several generations of migrant families, (ii) how their incarceration experiences are conveyed by the media, and (iii) what are the possible differences present in the various media outlets under analysis. We further discuss how the media portrays these different generations of migrants being held in migration detention centers, and how this may impact the public views of migrants.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abrajano, M., & Singh, S. (2009). Examining the link between issue attitudes and news source: The case of Latinos and immigration reform. Political Behavior, 31(1), 1–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ad Fontes. (2020). Media Bias chart. https://www.adfontesmedia.com/static-mbc/

  • Aguirre, A., Jr., Rodriguez, E., & Simmers, J. K. (2011). The cultural production of Mexican identity in the United States: An examination of the Mexican threat narrative. Social Identities, 17(5), 695–707.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • AllSides. (2020). Media Bias Ratings. https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-ratings

  • Arias, S., & Hellmueller, L. (2016). Hispanics-and-Latinos and the US media: New issues for future research. Communication Research Trends, 35(2), 4–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur, T. O. (2017). The cultural politics of US immigration: Gender race and media. Feminist Media Studies, 17(2), 313–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2017.1283752

  • Baerg, N. R., Hotchkiss, J. L., & Quispe-Agnoli, M. (2018). Documenting the unauthorized: Political responses to unauthorized immigration. Economics & Politics, 30(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bales, K., & Mayblin, L. (2018). Unfree labour in immigration detention: Exploitation and coercion of a captive immigrant workforce. Economy and Society, 47(2), 191–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2018.1484051

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardin, L. (1995). Análise de Conteúdo. Lisboa: Edições 70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonfiglio, G., Rosal, K., Henao-Martínez, A., Franco-Paredes, C., Poeschla, E. M., Moo-Young, J., Seefeldt, T., Dunlevy, H., Haas, M., & Young, J. (2020). The long journey inside immigration detention centres in the USA. Journal of Travel Medicine, 27(7), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taaa083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. A. (2016). Running on fear: Immigration, race and crime framings in contemporary GOP presidential debate discourse. Critical Criminology, 24(3), 315–331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-016-9317-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. (2014). Visual criminology and carceral studies: Counter-images in the carceral age. Theoretical Criminology, 18(2), 176–197. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480613508426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callanan, V. J. (2012). Media consumption, perceptions of crime risk and fear of crime: Examining race/ethnic differences. Sociological Perspectives, 55(1), 93–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chavez, L. (2001). Covering immigration. https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520224360/covering-immigration

  • Chavez, L. (2020). The Latino threat: Constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation. In The Latino threat (2nd ed.). Stanford University Press. https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/589851

  • Chavez, M., Whiteford, S., & Hoewe, J. (2010). Reporting on immigration: A content analysis of major US newspapers’ coverage of Mexican immigration. Norteamérica, 5(2), 111–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiricos, T., & Eschholz, S. (2002). The racial and ethnic typification of crime and the criminal typification of race and ethnicity in local television news. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 39(4), 400–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiricos, T., Eschholz, S., & Gertz, M. (1997). Crime, news and fear of crime: Toward an identification of audience effects. Social Problems, 44(3), 342–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiricos, T., Stupi, E. K., Stults, B. J., & Gertz, M. (2014). Undocumented immigrant threat and support for social controls. Social Problems, 61(4), 673–692.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cisneros, J. D. (2008). Contaminated communities: The metaphor of “immigrant as pollutant” in media representations of immigration. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 11(4), 569–601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, R., McCombs, M., Shaw, D., & Weaver, D. (2009). Agenda setting. The Handbook of Journalism Studies, 147–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Congressional Research Service. (2021). The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration enforcement policy. CRS Report. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R45266.pdf

  • Coutin, S. B., & Chock, P. P. (1995). “Your friend, the illegal:” Definition and paradox in newspaper accounts of US immigration reform. Identities, 2(1–2), 123–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, T. L., & Williams, C. L. (2015). The changing misrepresentation of race and crime on network and cable news. Journal of Communication, 65(1), 24–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donoso, C. (2020). Securitisation of female asylum seekers and healthcare in detention centres in Texas. International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 6(3), 186–205. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMBS.2020.111442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ebert, K., Liao, W., & Estrada, E. P. (2019). Apathy and color-blindness in privatized immigration control: Sociology of race and ethnicity. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649219846140

  • Ebert, K., Liao, W., & Estrada, E. P. (2020). Apathy and color-blindness in privatized immigration control. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 6(4), 533–547. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332649219846140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eleftherakos, C., van den Boogaard, W., Barry, D., Severy, N., Kotsioni, I., & Roland-Gosselin, L. (2018). “I prefer dying fast than dying slowly”, how institutional abuse worsens the mental health of stranded Syrian, Afghan and Congolese migrants on Lesbos island following the implementation of EU-Turkey deal. Conflict and Health, 12(1), 38–38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-018-0172-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esses, V. M., Medianu, S., & Lawson, A. S. (2013). Uncertainty, threat, and the role of the media in promoting the dehumanization of immigrants and refugees. Journal of Social Issues, 69(3), 518–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Facchini, G., Mayda, A. M., & Puglisi, R. (2009). Illegal Immigration and media exposure: Evidence on individual attitudes (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 1513176). Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1513176

  • Farris, E. M., & Silber Mohamed, H. (2018). Picturing immigration: How the media criminalizes immigrants. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 6(4), 814–824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Figueroa-Caballero, A., & Mastro, D. (2019). Examining the effects of news coverage linking undocumented immigrants with criminality: Policy and punitive implications. Communication Monographs, 86(1), 46–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2018.1505049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleuriet, K. J., & Castellano, M. (2020). Media, place-making, and concept-metaphors: The US-Mexico border during the rise of Donald Trump. Media, Culture & Society, 42(6), 880–897. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443719890539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujioka, Y. (2011). Perceived threats and Latino immigrant attitudes: How White and African American college students respond to news coverage of Latino immigrants. The Howard Journal of Communications, 22(1), 43–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Georgopoulos, A. (2005). Beyond the reach of juvenile justice: The crisis of unaccompanied immigrant children detained by the United States. Law & Inequality, 23, 117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gil de Zúñiga, H., Correa, T., & Valenzuela, S. (2012). Selective exposure to cable news and immigration in the US: The relationship between FOX News, CNN, and attitudes toward Mexican immigrants. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 56(4), 597–615. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2012.732138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guild, E. (2018). Crime, migration and data extraction: The Trump travel bans. International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 4(4), 366–378. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMBS.2018.096790

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., & Palloni, A. (1999). Sociological criminology and the mythology of Hispanic immigration and crime. Social Problems, 46(4), 617–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, K. R. (2011). Immigrant detention centers in the United States and international human rights law. Berkeley La Raza LJ, 21, 93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, C. T., & Gruenewald, J. (2020). News media trends in the framing of immigration and crime, 1990–2013. Social Problems, 67(3), 452–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassan, Y., Zarkar, S., & Rice, T. (2020). Psychiatric consequences of detaining migrant children at the US/Mexico border. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 56(3), 483–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.14807

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haynes, C., Merolla, J., & Ramakrishnan, S. K. (2016). Framing immigrants: News coverage, public opinion, and policy. Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiemstra, N. (2021). Mothers, babies, and abortion at the border: Contradictory US policies, or targeting fertility? Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space. First published online March 5, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399654421998368

  • Hiemstra, N. (2019). Pushing the US-Mexico border south: United States’ immigration policing throughout the Americas. International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 5(1–2), 44–63. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMBS.2019.099681

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hmielowski, J. D., Hutchens, M. J., & Beam, M. A. (2020). Asymmetry of Partisan Media Effects?: Examining the reinforcing process of conservative and liberal media with political beliefs. Political Communication, 37(6), 852–868. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2020.1763525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoewe, J. (2018). Coverage of a crisis: The effects of international news portrayals of refugees and misuse of the term “immigrant.” American Behavioral Scientist, 62(4), 478–492. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218759579

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingram, D., & Henshall, P. (2008). The news manual: A professional resource for journalists and the media. www.thenewsmanual.net

  • Kaiser, J., Rauchfleisch, A., & Bourassa, N. (2020). Connecting the (far-)right dots: A topic modeling and hyperlink analysis of (far-)right media coverage during the US elections 2016. Digital Journalism, 8(3), 422–441. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1682629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufhold, K. (2019). Mediating empathy: The role of news consumption in mitigating attitudes about race and immigration. Newspaper Research Journal, 40(2), 222–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532919835001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, A. S., Rosenfeld, B., Trinh-Shevrin, C., Meserve, C., Sachs, E., Leviss, J. A., Singer, E., Smith, H., Wilkinson, J., Kim, G., Allden, K., & Ford, D. (2003). Mental health of detained asylum seekers. The Lancet, 362(9397), 1721–1723. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14846-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S., Carvalho, J. P., Davis, A. G., & Mullins, A. M. (2011). The view of the border: News framing of the definition, causes, and solutions to illegal immigration. Mass Communication and Society, 14(3), 292–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205431003743679

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinefuchi, E., & Cruz, G. (2015). The Mexicans in the news: Representation of Mexican immigrants in the internet news media. Howard Journal of Communications, 26(4), 333–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurniawan, D., Muktiyo, W., & Wijaya, M. (2019). Online media and news framing of president Donald Trump.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawlor, A. (2015). Framing immigration in the Canadian and British news media. Canadian Journal of Political Science/revue Canadienne De Science Politique, 48(2), 329–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leander, K., & De Haan, M. (2017). Media and migration: Learning in a globalized world. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lecheler, S., Matthes, J., & Boomgaarden, H. (2019). Setting the agenda for research on media and migration: State-of-the-art and directions for future research. Mass Communication and Society, 22(6), 691–707.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linton, J. M., Griffin, M., Shapiro, A. J., & Council on Community Pediatrics. (2017). Detention of immigrant children. Pediatrics, 139(5). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-0483

  • Lippmann, W. (1922). Public opinion. Suzeteo Enterprises.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magana, L., & Short, R. (2002). The social construction of Mexican and Cuban immigrants by politicians. Review of Policy Research, 19(4), 78–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menjívar, C., Cervantes, A. G., & Alvord, D. (2018). The expansion of “crimmigration”, mass detention, and deportation. Sociology Compass, 12(4), e12573. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, J., Gomes, S., & Walzak, J. (2022, forthcoming). “The press has gone crazy”: Political Rhetoric and Online Media of asylum-seeking Immigrants in the US.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nortio, E., Niska, M., Renvik, T. A., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2020). ‘The nightmare of multiculturalism’: Interpreting and deploying anti-immigration rhetoric in social media. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819899624

  • O’Brien, B. G., Collingwood, L., & El-Khatib, S. O. (2019). The politics of refuge: Sanctuary cities, crime, and undocumented immigration. Urban Affairs Review, 55(1), 3–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087417704974

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ogan, C., Pennington, R., Venger, O., & Metz, D. (2018). Who drove the discourse? News coverage and policy framing of immigrants and refugees in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Communications, 43(3), 357–378. https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2018-0014

  • Ojala, M., Pantti, M., & Laaksonen, S.-M. (2019). Networked publics as agents of accountability: Online interactions between citizens, the media and immigration officials during the European refugee crisis. New Media & Society, 21(2), 279–297. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818794592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peeler, K. R., Hampton, K., Lucero, J., & Ijadi-Maghsoodi, R. (2020). Sleep deprivation of detained children: Another reason to end child detention. Health and Human Rights, 22(1), 317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, E. O. (2016). Unspoken politics: Implicit attitudes and political thinking. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pew Research Center. (2014). https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2014/10/21/political-polarization-media-habits/

  • Roberts, J. C. (2020). The populist radical right in the US: New media and the 2018 Arizona senate primary. Politics and Governance, 8(1), 111–121. https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i1.2508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, A. S., & Rivers, D. J. (2020). Donald Trump, legitimisation and a new political rhetoric. World Englishes, 39(4), 623–637. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryo, E. (2019). Understanding immigration detention: Causes, conditions, and consequences. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 15(1), 97–115. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-101518-042743

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, R. J. (2008). Rethinking crime and immigration. Contexts, 7(1), 28–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheufele, D. A., & Tewksbury, D. (2007). Framing, agenda setting, and priming: The evolution of three media effects models. Journal of Communication, 57(1), 9–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shoemaker, P. J., & Reese, S. D. (1996). Mediating the message (pp. 781–795). White Plains, NY: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, S. J., & Massa, E. (2012). Why immigration detention is unique. Population, Space and Place, 18(6), 677–686. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1720

  • Stewart, C. O., Pitts, M. J., & Osborne, H. (2011). Mediated intergroup conflict: The discursive construction of “illegal immigrants” in a regional US newspaper. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 30(1), 8–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sui, M., & Paul, N. (2017). Latino portrayals in local news media: Underrepresentation, negative stereotypes, and institutional predictors of coverage. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 46(3), 273–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suro, R. (2008). The triumph of no: How the media influence the immigration debate. A Report on the Media and the Immigration Debate, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, K. (2019). Silent killing: The inhumanity of U.S. immigration detention. Journal of Latin American Geography, 18(3), 176–187. https://doi.org/10.1353/lag.2019.0050

  • Teicher, M. H. (2018). Childhood trauma and the enduring consequences of forcibly separating children from parents at the United States border. BMC Medicine, 16(1), 146. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-018-1147-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theorin, N., & Strömbäck, J. (2020). Some media matter more than others: Investigating media effects on attitudes toward and perceptions of immigration in Sweden. International Migration Review, 54(4), 1238–1264. https://doi.org/10.1177/0197918319893292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentino, N. A., Brader, T., & Jardina, A. E. (2013). Immigration opposition among US Whites: General ethnocentrism or media priming of attitudes about Latinos? Political Psychology, 34(2), 149–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, M. G., Salas-Wright, C. P., DeLisi, M., & Maynard, B. R. (2014). The immigrant paradox: Immigrants are less antisocial than native-born Americans. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 49(7), 1129–1137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vincenzo, M. (2019). Media use, political efficacy and anti-immigrant feelings in host countries. Contemporary Italian Politics, 11(4), 415–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/23248823.2019.1681738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walden, A. (2008). Abortion rights for ICE detainees: Evaluating constitutional challenges to restrictions on the right to abortion for women in ICE detention. USFL Review, 43, 979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welch, M., & Schuster, L. (2005). Detention of asylum seekers in the UK and USA: Deciphering noisy and quiet constructions. Punishment & Society, 7(4), 397–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, L. C. N. (2018). Impact of punitive immigration policies, parent-child separation and child detention on the mental health and development of children. BMJ Paediatrics Open, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjpo-2018-000338

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work is financed by national funds through Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project «UIDB / 04647/2020» of CICS.NOVA - Centro Interdisciplinar de Ciências Sociais da Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jack Mills .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Appendix A: Codebook

Appendix A: Codebook

Pre-categories

Categories

Sub-categories

A. Perceptions of Migrants Before their Detainment

A.1 Perceived as Financially Burdensome

A.1.1 Adults

A.1.2 Children

A.2 Perceived as bad parents

A.3 Perceived as Innocent

A.4 Perceived as Criminal

A.5 Racism and xenophobia against migrants

B. Detainment Conditions

B.1 Physical and Sanitation Conditions

B.1.1 Adults

B.1.2 Children

B.2 Medical Conditions

B.2.1 Adults

B.2.2 Children

C. Neglect and Abuse Against Migrants

C.1 Death

C.1.1 Adults

C.1.2 Children

C.2 Abuse

C.2.1 Adults

C.2.2 Children

C.3 Sex Crimes

C.3.1 Adults

C.3.2 Children

D. Excuses towards detainment conditions

D.1 Overwhelmed

D.2 False Claims

D.3 Good Conditions

E. Legal Perceptions

E.1 Legal Interpretations

E.2 Reproductive Rights

A. Perceptions of Migrants Before their Detainment—any recording unites about perceptions of the migrants before they were detained. This category excludes any perceptions about migrants after or during their detainment.

A.1 Perceived as Financially Burdensome: any discussion of immigrant-costs that are seen as burdensome. This could include poor funding for training guards, implementing positive practices, etc., or could also include justifications for having poor conditions.

  • A.1.1 Adults—any references about the financial burden caused by adult migrants.

  • A.1.2 Children—any references about the financial burden caused by child migrants.

A.2 Perceived as bad parents: migrant parents who are depicted through a narrative of being bad parents and/or criminal for transporting themselves and child/family are included in this category. This also includes narratives of parents (fathers and mothers) that villainize them as a parent for transporting children across Central America and over the US–Mexico border.

A.3 Perceived as Innocent: narrative that focuses on immigrant children that are depicted as fragile or helpless at any point while immigrating to the US. This can include stories of their immigration, detainment, family-separation, death, etc.

A.4 Perceived as Criminal: category includes all references criminalizing migrants (socially and/or legally) for any prior criminal action or for entering the country “illegally.”

A.5 Racism and xenophobia against migrants: any narrative that would categorize an immigrant(s) as an “out-group” that does not belong in the US for any reason. This can include hate-speech, racist speech directed at the migrants or about them.

B. Detainment Conditions—any recording units referring the physical, sanitation, or medical conditions the migrants have to endure.

B.1 Physical and Sanitation Conditions: physical and sanitation conditions which are being experienced by the migrants or are conditions which are listed that explain or depict the environment of a detainment facility or its sanitary upkeep. These conditions are not forced (abuse) but can be the result of non-abusive neglect. Non-abusive neglect would be defined as neglect that does not cause immediate physical harm. Examples include references to poor collective hygiene, dirty, or otherwise unsanitary practices; sleeping conditions; characterization of the cells; etc.

  • B.1.1 Adults—all references to physical and sanitation conditions of facilities for adults.

  • B.1.2 Children—all references to physical and sanitation conditions of facilities for children.

B.2 Medical Conditions: illnesses, poor personal hygiene, and any other form of “sicknesses” applies to this category. This category does not pertain to sanitary conditions or dirtiness/ “sickness” from being unsanitary. Medical conditions are viruses or bacterial infections, not the feeling of being sick from unsanitary or dirty conditions.

  • B.2.1 Adults—all references to medical conditions of facilities for adults or medical treatment of adults.

  • B.2.2 Children—all references to medical conditions of facilities for children or medical treatment of children.

C. Neglect and Abuse Against Migrants—any reports of behaviors against migrants that resulted in their death, physical or psychological abuse, exploitation, or sexual harassment or assault

C.1 Death: any death of a migrant while in custody or while detained.

  • C.1.1 Adults—reports of the death of adult migrants.

  • C.1.2 Children—reports of the death of child migrants.

C.2 Abuse: any reference to physical or psychological abuse, or exploitation against detained migrants. This category includes specifically all references to forceful neglect or physical harm/abuse done to migrants by guards or other law enforcement, any psychological abuse done to migrants by guards or other law enforcement, and exploitation practices against migrants. Examples include physical force against migrants, forcing them to drink from toilets, insulting migrants, forcing them to work for very low or no wages, etc.

  • C.2.1 Adults—any reference to abuse (as defined above) perpetrated against adult migrants.

  • C.2.2 Children—any reference to abuse (as defined above) perpetrated against child migrants.

C.3 Sex Crimes: sexual harassment, sexual assault or abuse, and rape of any immigrant while in custody or while detained.

  • C.3.1 Adults—any reference to sex crimes perpetrated against adult migrants.

  • C.3.2 Children—any reference to sex crimes perpetrated against child migrants.

D. Excuses towards detainment conditions—any excuses made by the government, agencies, shelters and detention centers, guards or any staff in official capacity aiming at providing an excuse or justifying the mistreatment of migrants, claiming their statements or those of witnesses are false, or statements claiming these detainment centers have good conditions for housing migrants.

D. 1 Overwhelmed: Any references too how the system is overwhelmed and does not have the capacity or resources to house or care for migrants. Specifically, this category applies to any strain that migration puts on the system, to include individuals singularly or the general notation of the mass influx overtime (but not influx from a particular group of migrants) and its effect on the US.

D.2 False Claims: this category includes all references to any statements made by migrants or witnesses about the entry into the US, detainment experiences or legal process as being false and unjustified or unfair.

D.3 Good Conditions: this excuse is produced by law enforcement or members of the government (not migrants) that insist conditions in custody or detainment centers are “good.” This would not be applicable for any narrative that would question the care or service provided at detainment facilities.

E. Legal Perceptions—any references to legal action, concerns, policy or enterprise undertaken regarding the regulation of the migrant’s detention, or their rights while detained.

E.1 Legal Interpretations: any interpretation provided by a court of law or legal counsel. This did not include the blatant mention of law, attorneys, court, or any specific immigrant trial.

E.2 Reproductive Rights: any mention of reproductive rights or access to an abortion is applicable to this category. This can include commentary on reproductive rights, individual immigrant accounts, politicians, legal and political institutions, as well as any other discourse on reproductive rights.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Mills, J., Oliveira, R., Gomes, S. (2022). Lives in Cages: A Media Analysis of Incarceration Experiences Across Generations on the US-Mexico Border. In: Gomes, S., Carvalho, M.J.L.d., Duarte, V. (eds) Incarceration and Generation, Volume II. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82276-7_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82276-7_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-82275-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-82276-7

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics