Reporting Immigration

Reporting Immigration

By Stephen Franklin and Teresa Puente

About the Authors Stephen Franklin is an award-winning journalist and former foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. He covered the Middle East for the Tribune as a bureau chief and on numerous assignments in the region. He has also reported from Central and Latin America. Besides the Tribune, he worked for the Detroit Free Press, the Philadelphia Bulletin, the Miami Herald, and the Washington Daily News. He was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize, and a series of his articles were among the top investigative stories cited by the Society of Business Editors and Writers in 2007. He has trained Egyptian journalists for the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and for the Cairo-based Media Development Program, and journalists in Saudi Arabia for a Saudi journalism training center.

Franklin has a bachelor's degree from Penn State University in political science and a master's degree in political science from American University, Washington, D.C. He was a journalism fellow at the University of Michigan, where he studied Arabic and Middle Eastern politics and society. He has taught journalism at Columbia College in Chicago. He is the author of "Three Strikes," a book examining the impact of globalization on businesses, workers and workers' rights.

Franklin has been working with the Media Management Center since the fall of 2008. He is currently director of the ethnic news media project for the Community Media Workshop, a nonprofit agency based at Columbia College, Chicago, that helps link community groups and the news media.

Teresa Puente is an assistant professor of journalism at Columbia College Chicago. She is also the editor and publisher of Latina Voices and writes a blog for Chicago now called Chicanísima. Puente was previously a reporter at the Chicago Tribune and also was a member of the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board and wrote a column for the op-ed section. Puente has also worked for dailies in southern California and for Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C. She also is the recipient of the Studs Terkel Award from the Community Media Workshop for her coverage of Chicago’s diverse communities. She has been a journalist for almost 20 years and in that time has written extensively about immigration and the Latino community in the United States.

About the International Center for Journalists The International Center for Journalists, a non-profit, professional organization, promotes quality journalism worldwide in the belief that independent, vigorous media are crucial in improving the human condition.

Since 1984, the International Center for Journalists has worked directly with more than 55,000 journalists from 176 countries. Aiming to raise the standards of journalism, ICFJ offers hands-on training, workshops, seminars, fellowships and international exchanges to reporters and media managers around the globe.

ICFJ has a variety of training materials for journalists, from those who are new to the profession to veterans who want to expand or refresh their skills. Our collection of digital training manuals ranges from basic skills like reporting, writing and cultivating sources to new-media training, such as our guide for citizen journalists. Find them all at www.icfj.org/publications

This manual is made possible thanks to generous support from The McCormick Foundation The McCormick Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to strengthening our free, democratic society by investing in children, communities and country. Through its five grantmaking programs, Cantigny Park and Golf, and three world-class museums, the Foundation helps build a more active and engaged citizenry. It was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The McCormick Foundation is one of the nation’s largest charities, with $1.2 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.rrmtf.org.

Copyright (c) 2009 - International Center for Journalists Without the permission of the International Center for Journalists, you are prohibited from copying, selling, printing, translating or posting these manuals; otherwise, it is illegal under the U.S. Copyright Law (title 17 of U.S. code), which governs the reproduction and redistribution of copyrighted material. If you have any questions please visit www.copyright.gov.

For those interested in permission to reprint, translate or purchase paper copies of this manual, please contact ICFJ Communications Director Dawn Arteaga at darteaga@icfj.org or 202.737.3700.

Contents 1

Introduction

2

Avoiding and Breaking Stereotypes

3

Getting Started

4

Cultivating Sources

5

Ethics in Immigration Coverage

6

Providing Analysis about the Roots of Immigration

7

A Reporting Exercise

8

List of Sources and Resources

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Covering Immigration

Introduction The United States is a nation of people who mostly came from elsewhere – from the settlers of the 13 Colonies to Spaniards who settled in what is now the U.S. Southwest, from African slaves to waves of Asian, European and Latin American immigrants. Only American Indians can say they didn’t have to travel to get here.

Yet despite this legacy, immigration raises some of the greatest questions for Americans: How do we address the issue of illegal immigration? What role do immigrants – legal and undocumented – play in our society, our economy and our culture?

The volume of the debate has grown in recent years as there has been a surge in the flow of humanity and a shift in where they have been coming from. In 2006, more than a million people took to the streets of major cities across the 5

Introduction

U.S. demanding comprehensive immigration reform to help the 12 million immigrants living here in the shadows. But along with the marches came a drive, led by various groups, to crack down on illegal immigrants. In 2007, the U.S. Congress debated comprehensive immigration reform but failed to pass any legislation. As a result, municipalities and states from Carpentersville, Ill., to Hazelton, Pa., and from California to New York took it on their own to resolve the situation, spurring legal and political battles.

Covering immigration is not easy. It often requires an understanding of public policy and immigration law, an appreciation of U.S. history and our social dynamics, and an ability to convey in a compelling, even-handed way the everyday stories of immigrants.

For some, the immigration beat may pose ethical challenges since opinions on this topic are so intense and divided. Indeed, reporters with strong personal feelings about the issue, whether because of their immigrant roots, their religion or other ties, may find their sense of balance and fairness challenged. It truly helps to cover the news with an informed heart. That humanity can bring a story alive. But good reporting that is fair, balanced and honest will go further because your audience senses that your work can be trusted and you are telling them the whole story.

There are times when you may feel called upon to step beyond the reporter’s traditional role as a witness to the news. Is there anything wrong, for example, with helping an immigrant, who is here without papers, to avoid apprehension by immigration officials? That clearly seems out of bounds. But if you meet someone seriously ill in the Arizona desert whose life is in danger, do you ignore his or her call for help? That’s a different matter. Keep in mind that there is a wall which separates advocacy from journalism.

It is important not to stereotype, sensationalize or oversimplify the issues and the lives of the people you interview. While writing about illegal immigrants, for example, it is important to earn their trust and also make sure they understand your role as a journalist and not as an advocate. There may be language barriers, and it is important that you translate accurately or work with a translator who can assist you.

Remember that the story of immigration goes far beyond the undocumented. It is the story of all those who have come to America to start life anew. Many are immigrants reuniting with their families. Many are workers on special visas.

Some are refugees, who fled conditions so terrible that the U.S. government has offered them haven here.

Sometimes the news coverage of this very important topic has been superficial or charged with rhetoric. Your challenge is to be a critical thinker and filter through what is rhetoric and what is real. It’s your job to explain, to explore and to probe the reality, realizing that your words, pictures and sounds can make a difference for those whose views may be shaped by what you have told them.

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If your organization has foreign correspondents, think of ways that you can tell stories about immigrants by beginning the narrative overseas and then bringing it back home. Nothing is as powerful as taking a complex global story and telling it through the lives of a few. More than ever we live in a world without borders, a world where it is no longer a fantasy for someone living in a remote spot on the globe to plot a distant journey to a new home and make their dreams come true.

This manual will help you cover immigration in a fair and meaningful way.

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Avoiding and Breaking Stereotypes

Avoiding and Breaking Stereotypes The majority of stories published and broadcast about immigration focus on Mexican immigrants or the U.S.-Mexico border. But there are immigrants from around the world living in the United States both legally and illegally. When you cover immigrants keep in mind this bigger picture. Chicago has the largest Polish community outside of Warsaw. Southern California has the largest Vietnamese and Cambodian communities in the United States. New York has a major Dominican population, Detroit has a diverse population gathered from across the Arab world and Washington, D.C., has many Ethiopian immigrants. And the march of immigrants does not abate. The daily arrival of refugees grows, among them people from Iraq, and parts of Africa seeking shelter in the U.S. The stream of immigrants and refugees coming to the U .S. from across the globe has grown and shifted over the years, especially in the past two decades.

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What’s different today is that immigrants are coming from across the globe rather than Europe, which was the original source of the American melting pot. These are immigrants of all colors and creeds, religions and traditions. And as they step forward to claim a place for themselves in this country, we are witnessing a change in the public image of whose is an American. Indeed, this ongoing change in the nation’s complexion and roots is a significant story that can be told in many ways.

The United States shares more than one border. Don’t forget about the Canadian border. Immigration and business stories can be told along this northern border as well. It may be interesting to compare experiences at the northern border with the southern border.

How Mexico treats immigrants from Central America and elsewhere is an important aspect of immigration that is rarely covered. The southern Mexican border is full of people with stories, struggling to find a foothold on the immigrant trail going north. Immigrants from Cuba, Ecuador and even Asia have used Mexico as a route to enter the United States.

Besides looking at a diversity of nationalities, it is important to look at class. Not all immigrants in the United States are unskilled workers. Many have higher education and they are succeeding in the professional world. From doctors to nurses to technology experts, foreign-born workers are also shouldering great responsibilities in today’s workplace.

Immigration stories shouldn’t only be about problems. Your stories can bring smiles as well as tears of joy. They can tell about the successes immigrants have achieved, and the human drama of their struggles to succeed. These are stories about the steps people take to adjust to their new country; about how waves of immigrants have taken up others’ marketplace legacies, about how wealthy immigrants have invested in the U.S and about how immigrants support each other in order to flourish here.

View a Los Angeles Times story on how Vietnamese immigrants have found a solid footing by helping each other establish nail polish bars. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-nails-pg,0,6538588.photogallery Stories can tell about the second-generation – the children of immigrants – and how they struggle to mesh the customs of their parents with the new lifestyle they face in the U.S. Similarly, many stories can be told about how immigrants establish organizations that support their home communities, creating long lingering ties.

It’s important to be sensitive to others’ culture and traditions. If you interview immigrants in their home, they may offer you something to eat, for example. To 9

Avoiding and Breaking Stereotypes

refuse might be rude in their culture. Take that into account while you do your reporting. Strive to learn the cultural clues, spoken and unspoken, that may stand in the way of getting to know them. Your reporting will be greatly enhanced.

Don’t assume that someone who doesn’t speak English is not educated. If you need someone to help you communicate, work with a translator who is an adult.

A professional translator or community worker is preferred. They can best convey the reality you are seeking. Try to avoid relying on children to translate for their parents. It’s best to work with an adult who understands the role you play as a journalist. If you frequently need to get reaction from an immigrant community where you are reporting, plan ahead. Seek out immigrant spokesmen who can articulate their views clearly rather than relying on man-in-the street interviews where the faulty English conveys a stereotype and does not let others know what the community is really thinking.

Immigrant stories are not just urban stories. Immigration has changed suburbs and rural areas. Some immigrants have bypassed the big cities in search of a quieter suburban or rural lifestyles, and some have filled jobs in areas where foreign-born workers had not ventured before.

Journalists play a watchdog role, providing an opportunity for people without power to be heard. You must be careful not to take sides in this national debate, but be sure that your stories include the voices of the poor and uneducated, of victims of abuse, neglect or discrimination.

Religion matters for many immigrants. The Catholic Church has played an increasingly important role for immigrants, answering their needs and speaking up for them. So, too, immigrants have helped spur the growth of Evangelical churches and others. Similarly Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others have expanded the nation’s spiritual base. Some religious groups have also been drawn to help immigrants, especially refugees and illegal immigrants, asserting their commitment to giving sanctuary to strangers in need.

There are very human stories about the positive relationships developed between immigrants and the people who hire them to care of their children or elderly. But your reporting should not ignore the questions raised about immigrants’ impact on the job market. Try to avoid sensationalism and rely instead on facts and experts to explain what is happening to workers’ wages and jobs as a result of the presence of immigrant workers, both documented and those without papers. For example, if there were no immigrant farm workers, most of whom are undocumented, what would happen? Would farmers raise their wages? Have illegal immigrant workers displaced others? How have other low-income communities related to illegal immigrants?

A heavily debated issue is the financial burden created by illegal immigrants.

Without papers, immigrants cannot access federally-supported medical care except in cases of emergencies and childbirth. But some medical facilities have International Center for Journalists

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Covering Immigration

provided long-term care for critically ill illegal immigrants on their own. Replying to communities’ complaints, the federal government has supplied financial support for medical facilities that serve immigrants without papers. Learn how to quantify the financial burden on schools, medical facilities and other public institutions from illegal immigrants. Have local medical facilities used the financial support available from the federal government for caring for illegal immigrants?

What impact have immigrants who are here legally had upon your community institutions? In tough financial times, such questions are common.

There have been a number of changes carried by local, state and federal officials that have affected immigrants, their families and employers. From a driver’s license to access to health care, the immigration controversy has brought many legal changes, some quite critical for low-income immigrants. As the federal and state governments have stepped up their pursuit of illegal immigrants, there are many stories to told about immigrants’ rights, their health care, and, ultimately, the impact on the families of people who have been deported.

Crime has been a problem for some immigrants. But there is much debate among experts over the extent of immigrant-related crime. So, too, from the coyote or smuggler to the provider of fake documents to the crew bosses who violate workers’ human rights, criminals have preyed upon immigrants. Separate fact from fiction. What has been the extent of these criminal acts and how serious and widespread is the wrong-doing?

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Getting Started

Getting Started Your editor has given you the immigration beat, but it is so broad you don’t know where to begin. Here are some tips for getting started: ✦ Research the archives or the library of your media outlet and make a list of what kinds of stories have been covered. Take a critical look at how these stories were covered. Were they fair and balanced? Did they tend to focus more on official sources? Or they did include the stories of immigrants themselves? ✦ Look at how other media outlets in your region and across the country have covered immigration. Is it better or worse than your media outlet’s coverage? Why or why not?

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✦ Make a list of local sources you can call from government agencies to public policy groups and community non-profit organizations. Ask them how they think the media has covered immigration and what can be improved. ✦ Go out into your own community to neighborhoods where immigrants live.

Visit the business districts, the parks, the schools and the community centers. Talk to people about what issues matter to them. Many immigrant communities have a newspaper that serves them, and in some cases television and radio stations or Web sites. Follow their coverage, if you are fluent in the language. If not, find others on your staff or in the community who can help you keep on top of these news sources. ✦ Identify national and international experts and other official sources. These can include academics, research institutes and human rights organizations. ✦ Use the Internet and sign up for news alerts that will send you articles written about immigration and or related topics. Also sign up for listserves of national or community groups that do studies on the topic of immigration.

Use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to follow immigrant issues. These are now some of the best avenues to keep on top of breaking news and trends.

Covering the Social Impact of Immigration Immigration stories also can be told through the lens of many other issues, including education, health care, business, politics, law enforcement and human rights. A challenge for a reporter is to come up with new and fresh story angles.

Sometimes those stories can be found in what is most obvious but often overlooked. It often involves keen observation and reporting to come up with original ideas.

The longer you cover a beat the more ideas and sources you will develop. Part of the challenge may be in convincing an editor that a story is worthwhile. But if you do the groundwork, you will be able to develop a strong beat. It’s important that your coverage reflect a diversity of topics.

Here are some examples of story ideas in several different subject areas. These can be starting points for other story ideas.

Education You can start by examining what percentage of students in your local school district are immigrants. What countries do they come from? Are there adequate bilingual programs and teachers to serve their needs? Are there early childhood development programs to help pre-school children of immigrants?

Here are some strong examples of published education stories with an immigration focus: 13

Getting Started

From Chicago to California, elementary school students are learning Chinese.

Among those students are the children of Mexican immigrants. This story looked at the rise of Chinese-language programs in the U.S. “As China booms, so does Mandarin in U.S. schools,” by Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, Nov. 19, 2007. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-11-19mandarin-cover_N.htm “Educating Latinos: An NPR Special Report, A Five-Part Series on a Crisis in Education,” by Claudio Sanchez, National Public Radio, Nov-Dec., 2002. http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/nov/educating_latinos/series.html

Health You could look what services immigrants receive at a local public hospital. In some states, laws require translators to be available at public hospitals. You could look into whether the services are adequately provided. You can also examine how immigrants are impacted, and what their presence means for the local health care system. Again, illegal immigrants cannot receive federally supported health care except in emergencies. Most immigrants also do not have health insurance, regardless of their status. How have community-based organizations helped them?

Here are some strong examples of published health stories with an immigration focus: This series looked at the health risks on both sides of the border of Mexican candy tainted with lead. The several-part series began in April 2004 and the newspaper followed the issue for several years.

“Toxic Treats,” by Jennifer B. McKim, Valeria Godines, William Heisel, Keith Sharon, Hanh Kim Quach, Courtney Perkes, The Orange County Register http://www.ocregister.com/investigations/2004/lead/index.php There are many health issues that disproportionately impact a particular ethnic group, and immigration status also can affect access to health care. This story looked at how breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths among Latinas in the U.S. “Breast cancer: What to know, how to help Latinas fight the disease,” By Margaret Avila, Latina Voz, Jan. 2008. http://latinavoz.com/Article.php?Cat=4

Business Immigrants, especially middle-class Latinos, have fueled much of the small business growth in the United States. Small towns to urban centers have been renewed with immigrant-run businesses. These success stories could be more International Center for Journalists

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widely incorporated into business coverage. Also, the spending power of immigrants is tremendous. Stories that look at their spending habits as well as how much they pay in sales taxes are overlooked in the debate that often focuses on how immigrants are an economic drain. What exactly do they contribute? One of the top priorities for immigrants has been buying a home, but immigrants have been among the most serious victims of the mortgage meltdown. How have they fared in your community?

Consider a story like this which looks at the good and the bad of Western Union for many immigrants who send billions back home.

“Western Union Empire Moves Migrant Cash Home,” by Jason DeParle, The New York Times, November 22, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/22/world/ 22western.html?scp=1&sq=western+union+and+immigration Stories that look at general business trends, such as consumer spending and home buying, can also feature immigrants or Latinos without even mentioning their ethnicity, such as this story in the Miami Herald.

“Spaces to Live, Work, Play,” by Elaine Walker, Miami Herald, Jan. 21, 2008. http://www.miamiherald.com/796/story/13862.html

Politics You can examine the role new immigrants are playing in the electoral process and in registration for U.S. citizenship. There are stories of immigrants running for political office in the United States as well as back in their homelands. Also, Congress did not pass an immigration reform bill in 2007, and as a result many states and cities have passed their own laws related to immigration enforcement.

Stories could look at the social and economic impact of those new state and local laws.

This column looked at why some immigrants, after decades of living in the United States, became U.S. citizens in order to vote.

“Latino Voters making their Voices Heard,” By Teresa Puente, Chicago SunTimes, Jan. 21, 2008. http://www.suntimes.com/news/puente/750459,CST-EDTpuente21.article This story looks at how the debate over immigration reform has mobilized immigrant and Latino voters.

“Immigration Debate Wakes A ‘Sleeping Latino Giant,’ ” by N.C. Aizenman, The Washington Post, Thursday, April 6, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/05/ AR2006040502543.html

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Getting Started

Law Enforcement You can examine what impact stepped-up raids from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have had in cities and on families across the United States. The raids and the numbers of immigrants deported catch the headlines.

But what about stories of those left behind? What happens to families when they are divided? What about the businesses that hired the immigrants, or those who recruited them? How did the government treat them?

Also, many of the stories on enforcement focus on the deportation of immigrants from Mexico. What about illegal immigrants from other countries, such as Poland, Ireland or the Philippines? You also could look at the other side of deportation and focus on how immigrants are treated while in ICE detention facilities or in many cases county jails. Similarly, what is it like to be Latino and work as an ICE agent? What are the problems that immigration officials have in dealing with fake identification rings, and human trafficking?

This three-part investigation looked at whether all the recent enforcement efforts have been effective and whether they have actually decreased illegal immigration.

“Bus to the Border,” by Norberto Santana Jr. and Tony Saavedra, The Orange County Register, Dec. 16, 2007. http://www.ocregister.com/news/borderimmigration-deportation-1942444-investigation This story looks at the personal costs of immigration by focusing on a married couple who have lived apart the past 19 years. The wife is in Mexico and the husband works in suburban Chicago.

“Divided Families: The Hidden Cost of Migration,” by Linda Lutton and Catrin Einhorn, Chicago Public Radio, Nov. 27, 2007. http:// www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=16035 This article took a simple fact from a Pew Hispanic Center study – that 53 percent of Hispanics in the United States worry that they or a loved one could be deported – and examined a community in Waukegan, Ill., where immigrants live with this fear.

“Facing Deportation but Clinging to Life in U.S.,” by Julia Preston, The New York Times, Jan. 18, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/us/18hide.html? _r=1&scp=2&sq=julia+preston&oref=slogin

Human Rights Other valuable stories could examine how immigrants are treated and in some cases exploited in the workplace. This can be done by looking into figures from International Center for Journalists

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the U.S. Department of Labor or at labor agencies at the state or municipal levels. Unions, immigrant advocates and worker justice groups are good sources for such stories.

The Chicago Tribune published a several-part series called “Throwaway Lives” that looked at how Latinos and other immigrants take on the most dangerous jobs and suffer enormously physically and emotionally.

“Cabbies, clerks put lives on line; Immigrants' top cause of death on the job: Homicide,” by Stephen Franklin and Darnell Little, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 8, 200.For the entire series: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chiworkplace-special,0,580858.special

Culture There also are important social concerns related to culture and or assimilation or acculturation in the new homeland. Such stories can be told with a demographic or geographic framework by focusing on a community or a neighborhood. They also can explore the family dynamic and how the children of immigrants cope with growing up in the United States.

This five part-series looked at how immigration has impacted the small town of Morristown, Tenn., in rural Appalachia.

“Our Town: A Special Report,” published by The Houston Chronicle, October, 9, 2008. http://www.chron.com/news/specials/immigration Like a number of newspapers, The Chronicle also keeps a webpage that lists its immigration-related stories.

This radio piece looks at Asian-Americans caught between two cultures and how young people are more prone to depression, drug abuse and suicide.

“Beyond Borders: Caught Between Two Cultures,” produced by Chicago Matters, December 11, 2007, Chicago Public Radio, Sandy Hausman. http:// www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=16359

Anti-immigration It’s also important to examine the viewpoints of those who want to control immigration and who worry about the large numbers of illegal immigrants. There are think tanks like the Center for Immigration Studies that release studies on the economic costs of immigration. You see how their viewpoint fits into your community by talking to average citizens or voters and community leaders.

“Del. voters vocal about immigration reform,” By Summer Harlow, The News Journal, Posted Tuesday, May 29, 2007 http://icfj.typepad.com/immigration/2007/05/voters_reaction.html#more 17

Getting Started

The International Center for Journalists held a seminar called Covering Immigration: Establishing Links Between U.S. and Latin American Media. This hands-on reporting program brought 21 community journalists to Washington, D.C. from April 15 to 22, 2007. They created a blog to give participants a space to share their reporting and other resources with their peers, as well as to collaborate and experiment with new media technologies. You can find it at: http://icfj.typepad.com/immigration/.

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Cultivating Sources Developing strong sources is critical to reporting on immigration and for all beat reporting. But it takes work, and you have to go beyond press releases. Too often the reporting on immigration highlights the the pro- and anti-immigration extremes with little coverage of the middle ground. Or the stories include only official sources such as politicians or agency heads. Many stories about immigration focus on policy or laws but they don’t always include the voices of those people who would be impacted, especially the immigrants themselves.

Even more rarely do we hear from people who employ immigrants and benefit from their labor, whether they are large companies, small businesses or individual families.

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Cultivating Sources

This is about practicing responsible and ethical journalism. It is vital to have a range of sources from official and unofficial, academic and political, experts and ordinary people, immigrants and their employers.

Here are some ways you can cultivate a diverse group of sources: ✦ Groups that advocate on behalf of immigrants tend to be non-profit organizations on the local as well as national scene. They can help identify current issues. Make sure you are on their listserves, mailing lists and Twitter feeds. These are official sources but many provide direct services to immigrants and they usually can help find a human face to put on a story.

They also may be able to refer you to other organizations that work with immigrants. Don’t forget both sides of the issue. If there are politicians, academics or community groups who have raised concerns about immigration, contact them so you can frame the issue from all points of view. Examine their concerns and use them as points to shape your coverage. ✦ Get to know sources in the local as well as national offices of U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Border Patrol. It may be difficult to develop a rapport with these official agencies, but showing your willingness to be fair in your coverage will take you a long way. Give them the chance and enough time to react to your reporting and make sure you double-check crucial points in your coverage with them. Most officials respect tough reporting when it is fair and correct. ✦ Check with the local universities and colleges in your area to see if there are academic experts and researchers in the immigration field. Ask them what they are researching and their opinions on current issues. This may not result in a story but they could be a source for future stories. ✦ Surveys and polls also can be useful places to find story ideas, and the authors of those reports also are experts who can be quoted. ✦ Government records can also be an important source of information from the Department of Labor to ICE and U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.

You can look on the federal level, but also be sure to look on the local level at things like police reports and court records. ✦ Stories about immigration are more compelling when you provide a narrative with real people with specific problems. It’s important to go beyond policy and numbers. Non-profits, churches as well as old-fashioned street reporting are ways to find immigrants to help you tell a story. ✦ Internet chat rooms as well as social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace can lead to sources in the United States and other countries.

There also are a myriad of bloggers who could prove interesting sources.

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✦ Don’t forget to ask people you know in person or through email. You may have friends or relatives who know somebody who might fit the description of the person you are looking to find. Personal contacts are always a resource. But beware of the ethical problems raised when you write about people close to you. You can’t suspend your commitment to complete and honest reporting. ✦ It’s also important to include sources who want to control illegal immigration or who find themselves caught between the two sides in your stories. This can include organizations that voice dissenting opinions but also people in communities where immigrants live. An economist, political scientist or immigration research expert may offer reasoned arguments or information that needs to be examined in your coverage. ✦ Be aware that many sources whether they are for or against immigration may have a hidden agenda. So be sure to do extra reporting to find what your sources are connected to and what they stand to gain or lose. The Southern Poverty Law Center at http://www.splcenter.org has pertinent information on some of the groups advocating against illegal immigration.

Ultimately, you as a journalist have to decide which information is credible or not.

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Ethics in Immigration Coverage

Ethics in Immigration Coverage Covering immigration you are bound to run into ethical questions, most of them dealing with language or terminology. Terms such as “aliens” and “illegals” are considered offensive in the immigrant and Latino community. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), a 2,300-member organization of news media professionals, discourages the usage of those terms. The Associated Press similarly cautions against their usage.

The Associated Press stylebook suggests the term “illegal immigrant”: “Used to describe those who have entered the country illegally, it is the preferred term rather than illegal alien or undocumented worker. Do not use the shortened term ‘illegals.’” In this manual, we followed AP style.

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NAHJ recommends using the terms undocumented immigrant or undocumented worker. It points out that large numbers of undocumented overstayed their visas and did not cross the border illegally. It also says the word alien dehumanizes immigrants. For more information, visit: http://www.nahj.org/nahjnews/articles/ 2006/March/immigrationcoverage.shtml.

Identifying Immigrants Someone tells you that he or she is here illegally. How do you identify them?

First, make sure the immigrant understands you are a journalist and their name will appear in public. Most newspapers will not used unnamed sources or use a subject’s first name only. There are exceptions, such as not naming a rape victim. Whether or not to identify an illegal immigrant depends on 1) whether you have that person’s consent and 2) the policy of your individual news organization. There are no hard and fast rules and each case should be evaluated carefully.

If you decide to use an illegal immigrant’s full name, be aware that you are essentially identifying him to ICE officials making him vulnerable to deportation.

Be aware that if you include the address, or even the hometown, or if you list the place of employment, those are all clues that can be used by immigration officials to find your source.

This has happened as explained below in a case from the Spanish-language media network Univision and another case from North Carolina. Even when newspapers have gotten permission to use the full name of an illegal immigrant, some media outlets have chosen not to do so because it would be easy for immigrant officials to find the person through a brief Internet search.

This is something you should weigh seriously. You might ask yourself whether it is worth telling the story at any cost. ✦ Is it worth risking the deportation of a source? ✦ Can we trust the immigrant to understand all the consequences of “going on the record”? ✦ Is it the media’s job to protect an illegal immigrant from immigration officials? ✦ Does telling the story outweigh any unintended consequences?

Most newspapers or media outlets do not have an official policy on whether to identify illegal immigrants as each story is different. The following are some examples of how different news organizations handled such cases.

“Father of First Baby Born in 2008 Faces Deportation,” Univision Online, posted Jan. 9, 2008.

“PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island - The father of the first baby born in Rhode Island in 2008 was arrested and is now facing deportation after he disclosed in interviews with local reporters that he was undocumented, Univision reports.

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Ethics in Immigration Coverage

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Mynor Montufar in his apartment Friday after a newspaper and a local television station interviewed him and his wife, Carmen Marrero. David De la Roca, an illegal immigrant who shared an apartment with the couple, was found dead, the victim of an apparent suicide, hours after Montufar was arrested.”

Further media reports indicated that De la Roca may have killed himself for fear of deportation. The case also drew criticism from the Guatemalan consulate and the American Civil Liberties Union affiliate in Rhode Island. They charged the “the harsh policies of immigration” with destroying families and “terrorizing a community.”

This is a complicated case, but who is responsible? In this case, an immigrant revealed that he was undocumented to the media and they reported it as they would any fact. However, the release of this information had unintended consequences.

Based on what is reported on this case, please consider the following ethical questions: ✦ Should the media have reported the fact that the father was undocumented? ✦ Is that information relevant to the story of the “first baby born” of the year? ✦ Did the media play a role in the arrest of the father? ✦ Is the media responsible for the suicide of the roommate? ✦ How could this story have been covered differently? ✦ Should the news outlet have a policy on identifying illegal immigrants?

The Raleigh News and Observer published a story (“Heart without a home,” by Gigi Anders, March 8, 1998, http://web.archive.org/web/19990220054129/http:/ www.news-observer.com/daily/1998/03/08/tri00.html) about illegal immigrant Julio Granados. Granados represented “Everyhombre," as Anders wrote in the piece. "He is one of thousands of young Hispanic men who mow grass and blow dead leaves away, who build houses and clean office buildings, who clear restaurant tables and wash cars."

INS agents apparently read the story, which included details of his illegal border crossing and the name of the grocery store where he worked. Two weeks later, Granados was arrested by immigration officials. The case drew outrage from the local immigrant community and analysis from journalists.

In the Columbia Journalism Review, Barry Yeoman, wrote, “Anders's story and the arrests enraged local Hispanic leaders and raised issues that journalists increasingly face these days. How do you write about a community of people whose very presence is against the law? Does shielding someone's identity, or withholding basic information, undermine journalistic credibility? And what does a media outlet do when an important story puts a helpful source at substantial risk?”

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Covering Immigration

In follow-up articles, Anders said Granados agreed that it was OK to include the fact that he was an illegal immigrant. She said she warned him that he could be deported. She wrote that Granados replied, "If that's my destiny, then that's OK, because my mother really misses me." But a month later, Granados told another reporter from the newspaper that he never consented to go public with his immigration status.

This case raises questions that are still relevant almost 10 years later. It shows the increasing need for media outlets to have a policy in place for such stories.

That could include having immigrants sign a release, not naming them or not including any incriminating information, such as their address or place of employment.

Enrique’s Journey The Pulitzer-Prize winning series turned into a book by the Los Angeles Times reporter Sonia Nazario grippingly tells the story of a Central American teen who leaves home, crosses into Mexico, is deported back home multiple times until he finally reunited with his mother working in the United States.

It is an intimate portrait of the difficulties Central Americans face while traversing Mexico, from gang beatings, to rape and robbery by police officials. There are physical dangers faced from riding the trains and some lose limbs in the process.

We never learn the last name of Enrique or his family – a deliberate decision by Nazario and her editors. They decided not to publish the names after a quick database search showed that officials could easily identify Enrique and his family if their names were published. Indeed, the reporter and editors considered what had happened in the North Carolina case. “The Times decision was intended to allow Enrique and his family to live their lives as they would have had they not provided information for this story,” Nazario wrote in the notes to her book.

For the reader, this did not take away from the full impact of the story, which was so richly detailed and reported that it left no doubts about the credibility of Enrique’s story. The story was effective in shedding light on the hardships faced

by Central American immigrants, and it wasn’t essential to know Enrique’s last name.

Nazario retraced his path and verified all that he experienced so that in the end his last name was simply irrelevant. It was simply “Enrique’s Journey.”

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Providing Analysis about the Roots of Immigration

Providing Analysis about the Roots of Immigration In today’s world, the United States. is one spot in an enormous room where millions are moving around. That is why a story about immigrants in the United States climbs to a higher notch when it puts immigration into this global context.

By explaining the forces pushing and pulling immigrants and refugees, it helps readers and listeners see how this mass of humanity fits into a larger picture, how immigration waves today often touch many nations at the same time, and how nations may deal with the same issue quite differently.

Immigrants today no longer travel to the closest place they can reach, or to a destination, where they have links. Globalization has unleashed a hunger for a better life and a newfound ability by the world’s poor to cross frontiers and to International Center for Journalists

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Covering Immigration

launch daunting journeys to better themselves. It has also opened doors for better educated immigrants or those with needed skills to seek to better themselves by traveling far beyond their own countries. The result is a human job market played out across vast distances. Thus, some countries’ gain becomes others’ losses.

Wars, political upheavals and internal conflicts have lately sent millions rushing in search of safe havens – some quite far from their homes. Criminal traffickers and venal employers have tricked growing numbers of women, children and jobhungry workers into joining this global caravan.

So, too, groups that never before sought relief from religious, political, sexual and other forms of oppression are more willing today to risk their lives and to forsake their roots by joining this global march.

As immigrants have made new lives, the money they send home has also changed national economies. At the same time, the tales of their successes have spurred others to follow them, hoping their dreams will not turn into far-flung nightmares.

You can help clear some of the fog that covers the immigration story by putting these massive patterns into clear and human contexts. And that is why your reporting should include the back story for what has sent these immigrants here.

What were the socio-economic-political forces that sent them scurrying? What is unique about their role in the global immigration tide?

As professionals, we tell important stories because they help people understand the world they live in, and hopefully they make decisions based upon what we tell them. Few stories today in the U.S. are as important as the one about immigration, and that is why your job is a truly important one. Do it well.

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A Reporting Exercise

A Reporting Exercise You receive a tip about a suburban chain of Mexican restaurants mistreating its workers. The workers are undocumented. Some live in group housing paid for by the employer, but the rent is deducted from their paychecks. Neighbors have complained to police that too many people live in the house. The workers are shuffled around every few months from one house to another, and from one restaurant location to another. The workers also said they don’t get paid overtime, vacation or health insurance, but they are afraid to complain to government officials for fear of deportation. They also make less than the minimum wage. One worker said he was fired after he burned his arm in a kitchen accident and was treated at a hospital for third-degree burns. He had no money to pay the bill and now owes $3,000 to the hospital.

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Covering Immigration

So far you have convinced some of the workers to talk to you off the record, but who else can help you verify this story? What other sources can you contact?

Think not only about the first story that you will write but also about the sidebars and follow-ups.

List your sources here and then check the next page for sources you might not have thought about.

Sources ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. ................................................................................. .................................................................................

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A Reporting Exercise

Possible sources for the story on restaurant workers: ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

✦ ✦

Talk to the immigrant employees of the restaurant.

Talk to U.S. citizens who work at the restaurant.

Find former employees of the restaurant.

Call the owners of the restaurant at work or at home.

Interview neighbors of the house where the immigrant workers lived.

Find the owner of the house the business rented out.

Check police records to see if they were ever called to the house.

Find the police officers that were called to the house.

Check hospital records from the injured man’s visit.

Find the nurse or doctor who treated the patient.

Check if a translator assisted the injured worker.

Check with the federal or state Department of Labor to see if a complaint was ever filed.

Check with ICE to see if the employer has ever been sanctioned.

Check with the city to see if the owner’s business license is current or if he has had any violations, and check when the business first opened and who the owners are.

Talk to immigrant advocates.

Talk to customers of the restaurant.

Asking the Questions Suppose one of the restaurant workers has agreed to talk to you on the record, because for personal reasons he plans to go back to Mexico. Before he leaves, he wants to tell his story. You want to be sensitive, but you also need to get as much information as possible. Here are some suggestions for questions you might ask. Also, it’s important to not be so stuck on the list of questions that you can’t veer in another direction. The most important thing is to listen and make your source feel comfortable. Try to make the interview more like a conversation and not an inquisition. ✦ How are you today? I am a reporter and the information you give me will be published or broadcast in a story. Do you understand that? ✦ Why did you leave your home country? What kind of work did you do there? ✦ How did you cross the border? ✦ How did you hear about this job at the restaurant?

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Covering Immigration

Is the job what you were promised?

Did you complain or tell anybody about the working conditions?

Are you going to file a complaint? Why or why not?

How were you injured? Were you given any safety training?

Did your employer offer to help with the medical bills?

How will you pay the medical bills?

What were the living conditions like in the house?

How did that compare to your life in Mexico?

Why are you going home? Do you think you will ever come back to the U.S.? ✦ Did you find the American Dream? ✦ Your family will see the scar on your arm. Will you tell your friends and family about what happened to you in the U.S.? ✦ What do you think should happen to the owners of the restaurant? ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

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Book Title Goes Here

List of Sources and Resources Policy and Civil Rights groups The National Immigration Forum, http://www.immigrationforum.org/ The National Council of La Raza http://www.nclr.org/ The Southern Poverty Law Center http://www.splcenter.org/ American Friends Service Committee http://www.afsc.org/ NALEO, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials http://www.naleo.org MALDEF, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund http://www.maldef.org/ National Immigration Law Center http://www.nilc.org/ American Civil Liberties Union/ Immigrants’ Rights Project http://www.aclu.org/immigrants/gen/ 11663res20040806.html Asian American Justice Center http://www.advancingequality.org/ National Day Labor Organizing Network http://www.ndlon.org/ National Korean American Service and Education Consortium http://nakasec.org/blog/ National Immigrant Project of the National www.nationalimmigrationproject.org Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. http://www.cliniclegal.org/ Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee http://www.adc.org International Center for Journalists

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society http://www.hias.org The International Rescue Committee http://www.theirc.org Organization of Chinese Americans http://www.ocnational.org Japanese Americans Citizens League http://www.jacl.org Islamic Society of North America http://www.isna.net Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, http://www.aaldef.org Interfaith Worker Justice – a faithbased paper on immigration http://iwj.org/doc/FYWOAS %2006-07.pdf American Immigration Lawyers Association http://www.aila.org/

Think tanks and Research Centers Pew Hispanic Center http://pewhispanic.org/ The Migration Policy Institute http://www.migrationpolicy.org/ The Brookings Institution http://www.brookings.edu/ Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, http://www.cbpp.org/ Center for Immigration Studies http://www.cis.org/ The Manhattan Institute http://www.manhattan-institute.org/ International Organization for Migration (IOM) http://www.iom.int

Immigrant Advocacy Organizations The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights http://www.icirr.org/

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Section Title Here

CARECEN, Central American Resource Center http://www.carecen-la.org

Government Organizations ICE, Immigration Customs and Enforcement http://www.ice.gov/ USCIS http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis

Immigration Control Groups Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer The Minutemen http://www.minutemanproject.com/ NumbersUSA, Arlington, Va., www.numbersusa.com/home.html The Stein Report, www.steinreport.com American Immigration Control Foundation, Monterey, Va. www.americanimmigrationcontrol.com The Center for Immigration Studies http://www.cis.org California Coalition for Immigration Reform http://www.ccir.net/ The Social Contract Press, a publisher http://www.thesocialcontract.com/ index.html Americans for Legal Immigration http://www.alipac.us/ Grass Fire http://grassfire.org/ You Don’t Speak for Me http://dontspeakforme.org/

Publications and Journals www.fmreview.org/ Georgetown Immigration Law Journal www.law.georgetown.edu/journals/gilj www.iom.int/ 33

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