Introduction

In the late fall of 2018, as Central American migrants headed for the United States, they traveled together through Guatemala and Mexico to ensure their own safety. Over the years, migrants have become targets, increasingly exposed to exploitation, attacks, and violence on what is a very dangerous journey. Throughout the 2016 electoral campaign, candidate Donald Trump labeled undocumented Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “criminals,” and promised his supporters he would build a “big beautiful” border wall. The language used to frame Central American immigrants as threats to American security can be identified as part of a dangerously preemptive discourse that shapes news coverage through a set of militarized parameters. Once a security discourse is engaged, it quickly defines the terms of media debate, directing what will and will not be covered, what information can be included, and what must be left out. Beginning with his campaign in 2016, candidate Trump appealed to the electorate with xenophobic language.