2024 Election Immigration Policy Takes Center Stage as Trump’s Rhetoric Grows Darker
The 2024 election immigration policy has taken on additional importance with the intensified harsh rhetoric by Donald Trump on immigration, particularly as migrants across the US-Mexico border have increased. A painting of a bleak picture often made by a series of graphic and fear-driven language paints the picture of those migrants as involved in mass violence in the country. Most people believe that all this rhetoric is more political than anything else and is meant to instill fear in order to drive some votes. Such rhetoric has controversy and concern both sides of the equation.
Trump's immigration rhetoric turns dark.
For years, immigration has been a staple of Trump’s campaign speeches, but as the 2024 United States election season heats up, the rhetoric has changed dramatically. In recent stump speeches, he lied that migrants crossing the southern border are “slaughtering” people all over the United States, using graphic and exaggerated descriptions of violence. Speaking at a rally in Michigan in September, Trump told his audience that migrants are “cutting throats” and “grabbing young girls,” claims with no basis in fact but infinitely empowering him with a sense of fear amongst his supporters.
Even his campaign failed to produce any supporting evidence for these claims, and experts have pointed out that many studies have concluded that the number of documented and undocumented immigrants is no higher than the number of crimes committed by native-born Americans. In spite of that, Trump continues skillfully linking migrants to violence, crime, and chaos, which resonates well among many Republican voters who care about border security.
Migrant Crime Claims: Fact or Fiction?
Among one of the hot topics that Trump finds himself using in speeches revolves around the notion of migrants causing crime to increase. The truth is that there really is no real evidence that can be presented to validate this argument. Indeed, research after research concludes that immigrants, both legal and illegal, show a much lower crime possibility than a born-and-bred citizen. However, the story of Trump continues to win its game, as there have been reports of most polls conducted with the US electorate—to cite one, including some number of independents—considering the statement at issue believed to be true: that immigrants have connections to crime.
This false narrative may persuade or mobilize undecided voters because border security is one of the favorite topics for some Americans. In fact, KFF reports that 80% of Americans had heard the false claim that an influx of migrants has led to an increase in violent crime; 74% had heard that migrants were taking jobs away from U.S. citizens.
The Political Strategy Behind Trump's rhetoric
With the 2024 elections approaching, Trump’s rhetoric becomes apocalyptic. Over the past several speeches, he portrayed migrants as “savages,” “predators,” and “killers.” For him, they were a threat to American families and communities. Old news for Trump certainly, yet all things considered, it is a significant escalation in graphic detail and intensity of such rhetoric.
Experts say these hyper-violent words serve a twofold purpose: to mobilize his base and to frame immigration as a matter of national security. If migrants are dangerous criminals, then voters will forget about concerns like inflation or healthcare, where Trump may be more severely weak in voter perception. This strategy also plays into a larger narrative of fear that has proven to be an incredibly effective tactic in previous elections, particularly to voters who are making the selection around law and order.
The Impact on Migrants and Immigrant Communities
It reaches far out to the immigrant communities with the rhetoric of Trump. The everyday rants on migrants as criminals quite repeatedly fuel the sentiments of xenophobia towards those races and foster the divisions within American society. Immigrant rights activists have already begun to warn that this kind of rhetoric does not just dehumanize migrants but also creates hostile environments for those immigrants living in the country, especially within border states or its surrounding communities with high numbers of immigration.
Besides the conspiracy-mongering, Trump’s campaign has also obscured the difference between legal and illegal immigration. While campaigning in Ohio, Trump lied that Haitian immigrants lawfully in the country were eating household pets, a racistly laced remark. This policy of casting all immigrants—documented or undocumented—as threats ultimately serves to justify broader anti-immigrant policies, playing to people’s fearfulness.
A Dark Speech with a Clear Purpose
Trump’s words have not gone unnoticed, nor has he denied them. He’s characterized at least one of his speeches—in Wisconsin recently—a “dark speech.” Graphic language, combined with his speaking style of focusing on crimes committed against young, typically white women, taps into longstanding historical tropes about race and violence. And so, using fear and racist appeals, Trump looks to solidify his image as the candidate that will protect Americans from this perceived foreign threat.
How successful this will be at the polls remains to be seen, but it’s crystal clear that his focus on immigration and border security will dominate his campaign in the final stretch to Election Day.
Conclusion
In the run-up to the 2024 election, the rhetoric from Donald Trump on immigration has grown darker and, indeed, more graphic and false regarding the threat migrants pose. His linking of immigration and crime is a way of trying to reignite fears among the voters, something he has been able to do successfully in the past. This kind of rhetoric has been overwhelmingly disproven and his critics believe is not only costly but also detrimental to the millions of immigrants living in the U.S. Ultimately, Trump’s heightened rhetoric may resonate with one portion of the electorate, but it also runs the risk of further bifurcating the nation on a long-contentious issue.
