that well-being. The ‘border security’ frame promotes the notion that refugees threaten
national security (p. 40). Using such visual frames that depict large groups of people
“flooding” into Europe and refugees appearing exhausted and weak reinforces the idea
of a “threatening other” invading European countries, contributing to the portrayal of
refugees and asylum seekers as outsiders. As a result, this perpetuates racism and
undermines their prospects of successfully integrating into a new nation.
Likewise, Myria Georgiou claims that in some media narratives, migrants are
represented as a nameless and incompetent population (Myria Georgiou, 2017, p. 10).
This depiction generates a sense of “otherness” between the migrants and the
supposed newspaper reader. Due to the portrayal that they lack distinctive qualities
and occupations, migrants are assumed to be of little benefit to European countries,
which reduces empathy and creates distrust. She also emphasizes the discrepancy in
representation, claiming that the perspectives of government officials and politicians
are frequently featured in media pieces, while the voices of migrants are rarely
highlighted. This selective depiction legitimizes particular narratives while
marginalizing the voices of immigrants. Guess contends that racism is central to the
formation and molding of race, particularly in big industrial nations of European
ancestries, such as the United States (Guess, 2006, p. 658). This viewpoint helps to
explain why the media portrays immigrants and refugees negatively since it
perpetuates current power relations, notably White domination. By portraying refugees
and asylum seekers as “others,” the media reinforces that the nation-state belongs
solely to the dominant group, typically linked with Whiteness. These depictions help
to support present power structures and keep the status quo in place, making it more
difficult for marginalized people to dispute and express their rights.
The final part of this essay seeks to discuss how immigration policies contribute
significantly to the perpetuation of racial inequality. Elizabeth Aranda persuades that
current immigration policies in the United States function as mechanisms of racial
exclusion and removal. Through admission restrictions, visa application backlogs,
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