Voice of Orange County founder Norberto Santana Jr. tells David Beard in a Poynter Institute piece on immigration reporting in the Donald Trump era that in the California town of Santa Ana—where nearly 80 percent of the population is Latino—he regularly “gets panicked phone calls, and sees a heightened fear toward police, hospital workers and court officials” from the public since Trump’s poorly-attended inauguration this past January:
“The biggest thing that affects us is the raids,”the Voice of OC founder told a group of publishers at a conference in Chicago late last month. “There’s kind of an irrationality in the city. Where are they raided? Why? Kids who are left at schools, waiting for parents who got picked up … There’s a brutality to the system, a randomness to it, that is extremely affecting to people on the ground.”
As immigration advocates have long known, while the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation machine isn’t new, many of the horrific tactics agents have used to sweep up families are. In immigrant communities, rumors about ICE raids can spread as quickly as wildfire, and these communities depend on immigration writers for the facts. This is something the Daily Kos community, in solidarity with families affected by cruel and racist policies, has tried to provide. But it is complicated by the fact that ICE regularly withholds the truth, deceives, and flat-out-lies:
How do newsrooms cover an emotional story where statistics are often scarce? How do they reach audiences who have differing opinions on immigration, or have “fatigue” from stories that cross into sports, education, enforcement, business and government funding?
“Immigration affects every beat you find in the newsroom,” Manny Gonzales, of the Chicago-based Latino Policy Forum, told the Local Independent Online News Publishers.
We’re seeing this unfold in many ways in the Trump era. Immigrants’ legal statuses can affect if they’re able to access emergency care, if they’re able to access reproductive care, if their children are able to safely access public education, and if they’re even able report if they’ve been the victim of a violent crime. So, “what can a newsroom do? Search out new stories” and expand on subjects that are under-reported. For example, while Latinos make up a vast majority of DACA recipients, there remains much too little written about black and Asian Dreamers.
The Poynter Institute poses some questions for journalists:
— What companies in your community are profiting from the detentions of immigrants? Or the proliferation of $420-a-week ankle bracelets for those picked up in roundups?
— Are ICE agents targeting transgender immigrants?
— Do detained immigrants in your community have access to legal representation? A 2016 study showed only 2 percent of detainees without representation were able to avoid deportation.
It’s undeniable that writing and reading about these stories has an emotional impact on both writer and reader, but in the end, they should always center on immigrants and honor their humanity. And if we can use our platforms to lift up their voices, we should. Remember, many step forward to share their stories at great risk. When it comes to writers and readers, both can inform and advocate. Questions explored can help make a difference. And in an era as unknown as this one, there’s always an opportunity to learn from each other. Santana Jr. lays out a fuller list of recommendations that are useful for all writers, which are well worth a read here.