This document analyzes media coverage of the influx of unaccompanied minors crossing the US-Mexico border in 2013. It examines how both English and Spanish language newspapers constructed the issue as a social problem through their rhetoric and claims-making. A content analysis found that while both sets of newspapers legitimized the issue using similar claims-makers like government officials, they portrayed the effects differently - with Spanish papers emphasizing the negative depiction of detention centers housing minors and English papers focusing on the strain on US legal and social systems. The study shows how public discourse shapes the definition and perception of social problems.

1. The Daily Discourse
Situation categorized as a
“humanitarian crisis” by President
Obama.
By Brenda Ramirez
By the end of the 2013 fiscal year, U.S. mass
media began voicing its concern over a dramatic
influx of undocumented, “unaccompanied
minors” crossing the U.S.-Mexican border.
Thousands of kids were making the journey
primarily from Guatemala, El Salvador, and
Honduras.
This comparative analysis focused on the
construction of the unaccompanied minors
condition as a social problem through public
discourse. Both Spanish and English language
newspapers were the sources of data collection.
Not only do newspapers reinforce and legitimize
the general public’s claims; they also have a
central role in shaping the image they wish to
convey of the subject matter.
A constructionist approach is concerned with
the claims-making process. This requires a close
analysis of the talk and text, and
rhetorical/argumentative organization of the
data.
Categories for rhetorical devices:
 Terminology (referencing the
minors/problem)
 Causal accounts
 Atrocity tales
 Claims-makers
VOL. CLVII. . No. 54,205. Wednesday, March 23, 2016. $2.00
Both El Diario and Hoy also referred to the impact
that the influx was having on the immigration courts.
However, the claims presented here focused on the
effect this had on the minors. Many of the claims
emphasized that the backlogged courts were being
unjust in issuing deportation orders. This was due to
the fact that the children were not being afforded any
legal representation and that by expediting hearings,
the minors did not have the opportunity to make their
case to obtain refugee status.
As for housing facilities, the predominant
terminology used was detention centers/facilities.
This term does not have the same connotation as
shelter. It gives the sense of being held against one’s
own will. There were detailed descriptions of the
centers being overcrowded and unable to provide
proper care for the kids. Articles also elaborated on
the psychological consequences resulting from being
“locked up” in these facilities.
This study helps further understand how social
problems become legitimized through public
discourse. More broadly, it shows the power of
definitions and language as rhetorical arguments and
their role in the construction of problems.
• Terminology:
Humanitarian crisis, Immigration crisis,
Unaccompanied minors, Shelters
• Causal Accounts:
Fleeing conditions of poverty and violence
“Lax immigration policies”
• Atrocity Tales:
Present but few
• Claims-makers:
Government officials, Immigration attorneys/experts
• Terminology:
Humanitarian crisis, Unaccompanied minors, Refugees,
Detention centers
• Causal Accounts:
“Escaping the violence, homicidal gangs, and poverty”
• Atrocity Tales:
Prominent and repeated in multiple articles
• Claims-makers:
Government officials, Attorneys, Law professors
Discussion
The construction of this “crisis” and the methods
used to legitimize it as a problem was comparable in
all four of the papers. The two ways in which they did
this was through similar use of claims-makers and the
use of agencies responding to the problem. Although
the problem was legitimized through similar means,
the effects of the crisis varied in how they were
conveyed.
In the NYT and LAT the concern was directed
towards the U.S. legal system and the strain this
caused on the country’s resources. The education
system, federal funds, and border personnel were
some of the few mentioned.
Two resources that were of primary focus where
the immigration courts and housing arrangements.
Reoccurring claims were presented about the
congestion of the courts and lack of immigration
judges. Emphasis was placed on the necessity of
having to open new shelters to accommodate for the
large quantities of minors. Shelters were depicted in
terms of accommodating the children, quite different
from the Spanish language newspapers’ depictions.
Borderline Crisis
A Constructionist Approach to the Unaccompanied Minors at the U.S. Border
Findings