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J o u r n a l o f A d o l e s c e n t & A d u l t L i t e r a c y 5 2 ( 3 ) N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 8
as
illegals
or
illegal aliens
, assigning them an identityof criminality and therefore automatically question-ing their rights to access the benefits of society. Thisframe has origins in the broader national debate over immigration policy and political organizing, as oppo-nents have deemed it productive to garner oppositionto immigrants’ rights.The “illegal” frame was widely used by conserva-tive political organizers in the 2006 U.S. election asa hot-button issue to drive voters to the polls. Thisframe is advocated by four organizations that havemobilized toward restricting the rights of undocu-mented immigrants—the Federation for AmericanImmigration Reform (FAIR), Numbers USA, Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), and the AmericanImmigration Control Foundation (AICF). The framehas wide repercussions, because it has changed thelanguage of the pro-immigration or anti-immigrationdebate by the immediate assignment of negative char-acteristics to this population, helping sway traditionaladherents of a pro-immigration stance.Some proponents of the measures counter theillegal frame by finding alternative names for thispopulation, such as
immigrants
,
undocumented students
,
noncitizens
,
newcomers
, and
teens
. Other proponentscounter the illegal frame by placing blame not on thestudents but on the parents who brought them ille-gally into the country (e.g., “Children should not beheld hostage for their parents’ sins,” Vennochi, 2005,p. A11), thus positioning the students more favorablybut still within the realm of this constructed notionof legality.
The Role of Frames and Ideologies
Journalists do not report the facts or the truth but rath-er present the news in the context of a frame, allowingthem to process, report, and present large amounts of information in a quick and routine fashion. A framecalls attention to some aspects while obscuring others.To frame is “to select some aspects of a perceived real-ity and make them more salient in a communicatingtext, in such a way as to promote a particular prob-lem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluationand/or treatment recommendation for the item de-scribed” (Entman, 1993, p. 52). Proponents of the In-State Tuition Bill and the Educational Opportunityhowever, does not allow access to financial aid, whichpresents a strong barrier for a population with limitedeconomic means.
Media Representationsof Undocumented Students
In the State of Massachusetts, the context for analysisin this column, two initiatives were launched to allowundocumented students access to in-state tuition ratesand a path to citizenship. Drafted by an immigrantadvocacy group, the In-State Tuition Bill and theEducational Opportunity Act had similar languageto policy approved in other states. Neither of theseinitiatives obtained enough votes in the state legisla-ture in 2004 and 2006, but they did create a series of legislative moves and responses that prompted a localdebate about undocumented immigrants’ participa-tion in society. This column’s analysis centers on thenarratives used by proponents and opponents withinthis debate.A common narrative used by proponents of themeasures centers on the individual struggles of an un-documented student, such as Juliano, a Brazilian im-migrant who was brought to the United States by hisparents at age 13. A newspaper article (Woolhouse,2005) tells the story of how Juliano overcame a totallack of proficiency in English while sharing a one-bedroom apartment with his brother and parents.After three years, Juliano graduated from vocationalhigh school as one of the valedictorians. His hardwork, humility, and gift for computer programmingare highlighted in his success story. The narrativeends as the family decides to return to Brazil, hintingthat they cannot afford out-of-state tuition fees for this undocumented student in Massachusetts.This kind of narrative is a common one, present-ing undocumented students as hardworking, gifted,and overcoming insurmountable odds only to be dis-qualified from higher education and from their dreamby an unjust law. It is worth noting that opponents of the measure also use this frame, arguing that givingundocumented students access to in-state tuition willtake away funds from regular citizens, therefore dis-qualifying them from their own dream.A widely used frame for opponents of the measureprioritizes the legality issue, naming this population
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