Media and Mexicanization
Poster Number
5B
Faculty Mentor Name
Dr. Dana Chalupa-Young
Research or Creativity Area
Social Sciences
Abstract
Latinx groups have been the latest target of the current administration as well as the media's xenophobic rhetoric. During Donald Trump’s second presidential term, he has heavily focused on border security, mass deportations, and using social media as a political tool to portray undocumented Latinx individuals as threats. In September 2025, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to use racial profiling to target Latinx individuals based on their perceived race or ethnicity–determined by skin color and facial features, their spoken languages: Spanish, or English with an accent, and their occupations (Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo 2025). In this content analysis, I will be utilizing Chalupa-Young’s framework on Mexicanization. Chalupa-Young (2022) defines Mexicanization as a form of racialization that stereotypes Latinx groups as undocumented Spanish speaking criminals based on their perceived Mexican phenotypic traits. I will examine how the current administration is Mexicanizing Latinxs and immigrants by analyzing the White House’s Instagram photo posts between January 2025 and January 2026.
Location
University of the Pacific, DeRosa University Center
Start Date
24-4-2026 11:00 AM
End Date
24-4-2026 2:00 PM
Media and Mexicanization
University of the Pacific, DeRosa University Center
Latinx groups have been the latest target of the current administration as well as the media's xenophobic rhetoric. During Donald Trump’s second presidential term, he has heavily focused on border security, mass deportations, and using social media as a political tool to portray undocumented Latinx individuals as threats. In September 2025, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to use racial profiling to target Latinx individuals based on their perceived race or ethnicity–determined by skin color and facial features, their spoken languages: Spanish, or English with an accent, and their occupations (Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo 2025). In this content analysis, I will be utilizing Chalupa-Young’s framework on Mexicanization. Chalupa-Young (2022) defines Mexicanization as a form of racialization that stereotypes Latinx groups as undocumented Spanish speaking criminals based on their perceived Mexican phenotypic traits. I will examine how the current administration is Mexicanizing Latinxs and immigrants by analyzing the White House’s Instagram photo posts between January 2025 and January 2026.
Comments
Latinx groups have been the latest target of the current administration as well as the media's xenophobic rhetoric. During Donald Trump’s second presidential term, he has heavily focused on border security, mass deportations, and using social media as a political tool to portray undocumented Latinx individuals as threats. In September 2025, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to use racial profiling to target Latinx individuals based on their perceived race or ethnicity–determined by skin color and facial features, their spoken languages: Spanish, or English with an accent, and their occupations (Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo 2025). In this content analysis, I utilized Chalupa-Young’s framework on Mexicanization. Chalupa-Young (2022) defines Mexicanization as a form of racialization that stereotypes Latinx groups as undocumented Spanish speaking criminals based on their perceived Mexican phenotypic traits. I examined how the current administration is Mexicanizing Latinxs and immigrants by analyzing the White House’s Instagram photo posts between January 2025 and January 2026. I found a total of 234 units of analysis relating to immigration. Half of the total units were images and the other half were text captions. I found that 80% of the sample reflected stereotypes of criminality while 78% of the sample reflected stereotypes of illegality. Furthermore, the sample also portrayed immigrants as threatening (65%), and fear inducing (62%).