‘Bad hombres’? An examination of identities in U.S. media coverage of immigration

Abstract

ABSTRACT When discussing immigration on the campaign trail in 2016, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump used the term ‘bad hombres’ to criticise immigrants, and in particular Latino men. Using a novel dataset of images accompanying immigration news stories in three major news magazines from 2000–2010, we examine the extent to which press coverage helped set the stage for this sort of racialised and gendered association. We find overwhelming support for the ‘bad hombres’ hypothesis, demonstrating that in comparison to the true demographics of immigrants in the U.S., press portrayals significantly over-represent Latino men and under-represent all other immigrant groups. Our results are particularly important in light of research demonstrating that individuals’ political attitudes are influenced by the perceived ‘target group,’ or beneficiary, of a given policy, as well as scholarship demonstrating the media’s role in fostering a sense of ‘Latino threat.’