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| This Nazi propaganda poster from 1941 tells Polish residents that Jews are carriers of Typhus |
The surge of refugee immigrant children to America’s southern border has ignited a vehement anti-immigrant tone in reporting by many independent news organizations and bloggers. In an effort to create justification for the deportation of these children without granting refugee status, many of these reporters are echoing propaganda tactics eerily reminiscent of the Nazi campaign against European Jews during World War II.
The techniques used by today’s reporters and bloggers include not-so-subtle characterizations of the children, including the repeated use of the term “illegal alien” over “refugee” or “undocumented immigrant,” which is the far more correct legal designation. The loaded term “illegal alien,” and the often-unfounded implications it carries, is the reason why respected news organizations like Associated Press no longer use the term in general.
A far more insidious technique employed by writers in anti-immigrant press, however, takes a page out of the Nazi propaganda handbook. It involves using legitimate examples of sick immigrant children with various ailments, some serious, and depicting it as far more widespread and dangerous than it actually is.
