Language Myths & Media Spin

By Prerna Lal

Graphic created with AI - Covering Immigration

“Border Security” and “Open Borders”

• “Border security” is often used as a catch‑all to justify more walls, detention, and enforcement, even when crossings are driven by legal asylum claims or labor demand.​

• “Open borders” is frequently used to describe any policy short of maximal enforcement, even though U.S. law already has strict grounds of inadmissibility and limited legal pathways.

  
  

“Caravan” as a scare word

• Problematic framing: “Migrant caravan” is often used with martial imagery (troops, defense, crisis) to portray families traveling together as a hostile force.

• Better language: “Group of migrants traveling together,” “asylum-seeking families,” “organized overland journey.”

  
  

“Catch and Release”

• This phrase suggests people are simply let go with no process or consequences, evoking images of criminals being turned loose.​

• In reality, it refers to the legal release of individuals (often with ankle monitors or check-ins) while their immigration or asylum cases proceed over the years.

  
  

“Deportation” vs “Removal”

• Problematic framing: “Deportation” is used as a catch‑all, often with punitive, criminal connotations, even though modern U.S. law uses the civil term “removal.”​Better language: “Removal proceedings,” “order of removal,” “expelled under immigration law,” which emphasizes it is a civil process, not a criminal sentence.

“Criminal Alien” / “Felon, Not Families”

• Phrases like “criminal alien” or slogans such as “we’re only deporting felons, not families” obscure that most enforcement targets civil status violations or low‑level offenses.​

• They also erase that people with criminal records are still family members, workers, and community members, and that immigration categories of “aggravated felony” are far broader than lay usage.

  
  

“Human Smuggling” vs “Human Trafficking”

• Media often conflates smuggling (paid, consent-based border crossing) with trafficking (force, fraud, coercion, exploitation).​

• Blurring these terms can lead to policies that criminalize victims or their families instead of targeting exploiters.

"Illegal Alien"

Incorrect/Pejorative Term: Not defined or used in the INA; colloquial phrase blending "alien" (legal term for non-citizen) with civil violations like unlawful presence.​Reality:

• INA uses precise terms such as "unlawful presence," "inadmissible alien," or "deportable alien"—no "illegal alien" appears in thestatutes/forms.​

• Deemed derogatory by USCIS/DOS guidance, advocacy groups promote dehumanization—use "undocumented noncitizen" or "unauthorized migrant" instead.​

• Status violations are civil (removal), not criminal (except for improper entry/reentry); the term misleads on the law.

  
  

“Invasion,” “Flood,” “Surge,” “Wave”

• Problematic framing: Words like “invasion,” “flood,” “surge,” “onslaught,” and “tidal wave” suggest an attacking army or natural disaster, dehumanizing people and implying intent to overwhelm.​Better language: “Increase in arrivals,” “uptick in border crossings,” “more people seeking asylum,” “higher migration levels.”

Sanitizing detention: “Detention centers,” “Family residential centers.”

• Problematic framing: Euphemisms mask the coercive, carceral nature of facilities where people are locked up, often in prison-like conditions.​Better language (advocacy contexts): “Immigrant prisons,” “immigration jails,” “prison-like detention facilities,” paired with a clear description of conditions.​

  
  

“Illegal Vote” / “Voter Fraud by Immigrants”

• Coverage sometimes repeats unfounded claims that noncitizens vote in large numbers, despite consistent data showing such cases are vanishingly rare and/or often unintentional.​

• Repeating these phrases without context fuels efforts to restrict voting and casts suspicion on naturalized citizens and communities of color.