Weekly News  
 

Immigrant Representation In 

Today’s Society  
A Look Into How Immigrants Are Typically Represented In The Media 

By Mina Saber, College Freshman  

December 3, 2018  

Image courtesy of Sofia Espinoza (HuffingtonPost).  

When we look at representation of immigrants, they are typically represented as 

people who are lazy, do not care about our laws, and many times are considered 
anti-america.  

 
Of course there are some immigrants that are all these things, but for the most part, 
immigrants are much more than what is said about them.  

One of the most recent depictions of immigrants comes from a campaign ad run by 
the Trump administration that is also endorsed by the republican party. This ad 
focuses on a migrant caravan that was heading towards the American borders. The 
purpose of the video is to perpetrate this idea that all immigrants coming into 
America are criminals and that that they have no regards for our laws. 

The Trump administration furthered this negative stereotype that all Hispanics are 
criminals by using an example of a Hispanic who committed a crime and is proud of 
his crime.  

Not every Hispanic or immigrant is like Luis Bracamontes, the criminal shown in the 
video, but what the video suggests is that there is only one version of immigrants and 
this is it. It is not. Many of these immigrants are seeking asylum; they are trying to get 
away from crimes and yet they themselves are being depicted as immigrants. 

This single representation of immigrants plays into what Adichie calls the “Power of 
the Single Story.” Adichie discusses the implications that happen when there the 
single story, there is “no possibility of a connection as human equals.” When 
immigrants are depicted in one, singular way and that way is negative and derogative, 
then people began to fear immigrants. Like Adichie discusses, if there is this fear and a 
negative stereotype that exists than there is no way that people will see each other as 
equals.  

Furthermore, Adichie’s “Danger of a Single Story,” discusses how when people are 
presented with only one side of the story, this story creates even more differences 
than previously existed. When these stories get told over and over again, people who 
are victim of these stories well become less human because their own identification is 
overshadowed by these single stories (Adichie). 

 
 
 
 
 
Video courtesy 
of Jim Barlow 
on Youtube. 
Double click to 
play video  

 
However, this video is not the only negative representation of immigrants 
that is found in the media and Hispanics are not the only group of 
immigrants who are targeted. 

If you look to the media, you will typically see that if there is a Muslim 
character, the character is most likely a criminal or terrorist. For example, 
in the show ​Roseanne​, the main character who is pictured below, believes 
that her Muslim neighbors are building a bomb because they have an 
unnecessary amount of fertilizer in their backyard. Her automatic response 
is that there is no way that this Muslim family can be anything other than a 
terrorist. Roseanne does not know a single thing about her new neighbors 
and yet she falls for the typical stereotype that because they are Muslim, 
they are terrorists. However, not only does she believe they are terrorists, 
but the show itself portrays that they might be terrorists.   

In this picture, we can see Roseanne and her sister confronting her new neighbors, 
who happen to be Muslim. [Courtesy of Roseanne from Newshub] 

Claude Steele, ​Whistling Vivaldi,​ talks about the impact that stereotypes have on 
people. People who further and perpetrate the stereotypes are aware of the 
stereotype and people who are subject to those stereotypes are also aware that 
certain stereotypes exist (Steele 557). He says the following about people who are 
subject to these stereotypes, “ It [stereotype] is present in any situation to which the 
stereotype is relevant. And this means that it follows members of the stereotyped 
group into these situations like a balloon over their heads” (Steele 557). Steele is 
talking about how stereotypes can have power over people to act or not act a certain 
way. In ​Roseanne​, the stereotype that follows the Muslim couple is that because they 
are Muslim, they are also terrorists.  

 
These two examples are your typical representations of immigrants in the media. 
These stereotypes and single stories can be hurtful and harmful to people who are 
subject to them. 

Comedian and immigrant, Maz Jobrani, tries to break those negative stereotypes by 
showing that immigrants are much more than the stereotypes that they are presented 
by. Maz Jobrani talks about how he wants to bring people together and show that 
immigrants do love America through his comedy. 

  

Video courtesy of Netflix from Youtube [Double click to watch]  

His use of comedy is a positive representation and reinforces the idea that 
not all immigrants are lazy, that there is many immigrants that do love 
America, and that there is much more to immigrants than to what is usually 
shown. 

People should focus more on this type of representation compared to what 

is normally shown in regards to immigrants.  

 
References
Álvarez, Sofía Espinoza. “The Anti-Mexican And Anti-Latino Sentiment: Beyond The 
Anti-Immigrant Movement.” ​The Huffington Post​, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 June 
2017, 

 
 www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-anti-mexican-and-anti-latino-sentiment-bey
ond_us_594b552ae4b092ed90588bbf. 

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “The Danger of a Single Story.” ​Ted​, Ted, 

www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?langu
age=en. 

Barlow, Jim. “Stop the Caravan Ad.” ​YouTube,​ YouTube, 5 Nov. 2018, 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUNKVs_tQtk. 

Netflix Middle East & North Africa. “Maz Jobrani: Immigrant | Official Trailer [HD] | 
Netflix.” ​YouTube​, YouTube, 21 July 2017, 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtMQgs4d1rs. 

Newshub. “Roseanne Barr Addresses Her Islamophobia in New Episode about Muslim 
Neighbours.” ​Newshub​, 9 May 2018, 
www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2018/05/roseanne-barr-addresses-h
er-islamophobia-in-new-episode-about-muslim-neighbours.html. 

Steele, Claude. ​Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do.​ W.W.
Norton, 2011.