Stop using ‘surge’ and ‘wave’ to describe what’s happening at the border
A flood. A wave. A surge.
What’s happening at the U.S.-Mexico border is none of those things, but you wouldn’t know it from watching or reading some of the coverage in U.S. media. In recent weeks, the phrases “surge of migrants,” “migrant surge,” “the surge,” “surge at border” and other variations have all appeared in articles in the Wall Street Journal, NPR, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, the Associated Press, the New York Times, CNN, Reuters, the Los Angeles Times and yes, even The Washington Post.
The descriptions are not just factually inaccurate and divorced from important context but also closely linked to images of war and natural disasters. Individuals fleeing violence and poverty have been reduced to an amorphous threat. Such dehumanization is dangerous and serves only to sensationalize the moment — an issue that has been addressed by organizations such as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
One of the most egregious examples appeared in a story by the Associated Press on March 19 about the passing of two immigration bills by the House. In the middle of the article, reporter Alan Fram wrote (emphasis mine): “Both bills largely hit a wall of opposition from Republicans insistent that any immigration legislation bolster security at the Mexican border, which waves of migrants have tried breaching in recent weeks. The GOP has accused congressional Democrats of ignoring that problem and [President] Biden of fueling it by erasing former President Donald Trump’s restrictive policies, even though that surge began while Trump was still in office.” Later in the story, Fram included the word “sneak” to report on what Republicans think migrants do at the border.
A humanitarian crisis that has gone on for years with no end in sight — and made worse in part by years of failed U.S. policy in Central America — is now being described by one of the most respected journalism organizations in the world as a furtive invasion, when anyone with a basic knowledge of the current situation knows that the vast majority of individuals fleeing violence and persecution surrender themselves to U.S. Border Patrol agents when they reach the border. [Continue reading…]