In this essay, I explain how the media frames crime and illegal immigrants using three selected readings, and then use them to understand how This shot continues in two Fox News clips on the caravan of illegal immigrants coming from Central America. I argue that the media typically frames illegal immigrants in an alarmist light and is designed to perpetuate the belief that these illegal immigrants are scary and a threat to American society, rather than people who genuinely wish to seek help and asylum. In this way, the media effectively reframes victims of poverty and war in other countries as enemies of the United States, playing into the deep-rooted prejudicial beliefs that news consumers have about these illegal immigrants, most typically on the basis of the color of their skin. . First, it is important to recognize the way crime is portrayed in the media. As Altheide (1997) argues (cited in Steeves & Milford, 2015), crime is sensationalized and hyper-focused because news organizations and popular media producers all want to entertain – and what could be more natural built for entertainment of the macabre criminal narratives that creep their way? in the collective imagination and plants highly visual and emotional seeds in viewers? This is precisely why media stories about crime are framed in what he calls a problematic frame that creates a narrative that is not only easy to understand but also highly marketable (Steeves & Milford, 2015). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The problem frame highlights out-of-the-ordinary and “bad” stories that have a negative impact on many people, requiring a solution that is expected to solve the problem in the future (Steeves & Milford, 2015). Narratives about illegal immigrants are framed within problematic frames, as can be seen by how they are constantly spoken of as a problem the United States must rid itself of, as a people the United States must prevent from "raging "its borders. However, problem contexts are problematic because they present solutions that may not necessarily be the correct reforms needed to prevent crime from recurring in the future. In an example given by Steeves and Milford (2015), the solution found by the media in The response to the Columbine High School shooting was to blame violent video games as the root cause of the violence on the killers, which the government then followed to “solve” the problem by addressing youth consumption of violent media and implementing legislation for content warnings and rating labels on media content. This only serves to make the problem worse because, instead of identifying the true root cause of violence, they scapegoat violent video games and misdirect and misinform people on pertinent issues of crime (Steeves & Milford, 2015). It oversimplifies the criminal matter and pushes to defame someone as soon as possible, without a careful and thorough examination of the facts (Steeves & Milford, 2015). It also solidifies the boundaries of what can and cannot be discussed regarding the criminal event (Steeves & Milford, 2015). For example, after the Columbine incident, the discussion focused on violent video games, but not on youth mental health and providing better services to youth in crisis, which were the much more pressing andprobably the real root causes of violence ( Steeves & Milford, 2015 ). We can use this analogy with illegal immigrants. One of the root causes of crime in the United States, as news sources and politicians constantly tell us, is the problem of uncontrolled immigration. In a Fox News video, a former ICE agent explains how illegal immigrants are diverting U.S. Border Patrol resources to their cause, leaving the U.S. border vulnerable to infiltration by drug cartels and the like (“Secretary of DHS,” 2018).Therefore, it holds these illegal immigrants responsible for draining US resources and helping criminals enter US territory. Furthermore, he repeatedly points out that these illegal immigrants are unknown and that some of them are definitely criminals, which corrupts others: "Some of them actually come from abroad, probably from the Middle East or somewhere else... We don't know who it's all in this group... The groups are infiltrated by cartel members... We don't know who's coming in; there's no way to control them” (“DHS Secretary,” 2018, 00:03:03-00: 03:15”). Introducing the Middle East position, which has its own load of negative connotations and associated racist prejudices. In this regard, this ICE agent makes a series of accusations that are based only on conjecture, but which are now being presented by the media as facts. The solution, as the media and politicians always tell us, is to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the United States by tightening immigration controls and repeatedly demonizing these illegal immigrants until people start to believe them. policies and reforms. In this process, the narrative that illegal immigrants are simply refugees seeking asylum is repeatedly repressed, and the true root causes of crime in the United States, which is not exacerbated by illegal immigrants, are hidden and ignored. This is why problem framing is so nefarious: because it leads to moral panic. As Cohen (1972/1980) states, moral panic occurs when “a condition, an episode, a person, or a group of people emerges to be defined as a threat to society's values ​​and interests” (p. 9, as cited by Hall et al., 1978, as cited by Steeves & Milford, 2015, p. Moral panic is fear-based and attaches to stereotypes people have about certain races and genders, as well as other group identities, to cement certain criminal perceptions about them (Steeves & Milford, 2015, p. Milford, 2015) . Moral panics amplify social tensions and exaggerate crises by leveraging historical prejudices against minority groups, such as people of color and, in the case of this article, Central American Caravan migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border (Steeves & Milford, 2015). This was the goal of that former ICE agent who cited the Middle East as part of the illegal immigrant threat, and other instances where illegal immigrants are vilified, held responsible for exacerbating problems in the United States such as poverty and crime which In fact, they were already present and are only exaggerated by the media. As Longazel (2012) argues, moral panic is a racial accumulation. The media's portrayal of illegal immigrants is based on the idea of ​​racial stratification, which as Longazel (2012) writes, is “perpetuated by exploitation – 'when people in one social group expropriate a resource produced by members of another group social" (Massey, 2007: 6) - and accumulation of opportunities - where "beneficiaries do not take advantage of the efforts of outsiders but instead exclude them from access to resources.