How the GOP justifies the 2025 deportation phenomenon using the memories of the Mariel Boatlift.
Current events stories often frame immigrants, particularly those who are non-white or from specific regions, as an "invading" force, a "flood," or a "threat" to the culture, safety, or economy of the host nation.
This rhetoric taps into primal fears of the "outsider" and triggers anxieties related to identity, loss of control, and survival (e.g., fear of losing jobs, cultural norms, or national security). Metaphors like "invasion" replace complex reality with a simple, urgent crisis.
Instead of presenting comprehensive data, narratives focus intensely on isolated, sensational stories of violence or crime allegedly committed by an immigrant. These anecdotes are presented as representative of the entire population.
This triggers anger and a sense of moral outrage and betrayal. It uses the vividness of a single, negative story to create a cognitive shortcut, making the audience believe that the threat is widespread and imminent. The fear is amplified by suggesting that authorities are not protecting the "us" group from the "them" group.
Emotional stories are used to assign blame for existing societal problems (like economic hardship, strain on public services, or crime) directly to immigrants.
This redirects frustration and anxiety away from complex systemic issues and toward a simple, identifiable target. By framing immigrants as the cause of suffering, it mobilizes resentment and the belief that removing the scapegoat will resolve the community's problems.
Language in these stories is often highly dramatic, using words that suggest an immediate and unmanageable breakdown of order (e.g., "overwhelms," "chaos," "crisis").
This generates panic and anxiety, leading people to demand immediate, often drastic and punitive, policy changes, which they may otherwise rationally reject. When a person is in a state of high anxiety, they are more likely to rely on emotional reaction than rational consideration.
The overall goal is to make the audience feel that the issue is not a matter of policy, economics, or law, but an emotional, moral battle for the survival of their way of life, justifying hardline anti-immigration positions.
If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all.