How Anti-Immigration Sentiment Has Spread to Include Muslim and Central American Refugees During the Trump Administration: An Analysis of National Security and Human Rights
Session Title
Additional Abstracts
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Political Science
Faculty Mentor
Jennifer Disney, Ph.D.; Michael Lipscomb, Ph.D.
Abstract
During the Trump Administration, there have been obvious anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, and anti-Central American sentiments. The anti-immigration sentiment previously did not reach what the public deemed the vulnerable population of refugees. However, falling under a recent spotlight, the Trump administration placed refugees under this anti-immigrant sentiment. Refugees and asylees are no longer seen as a vulnerable population; they are seen with a negative stigma, especially Muslim and Central American refugees. This negative stigma can be traced back to the terrorist attack of 9/11 causing the War on Terror, and more recently with the caravans from Central America. In this paper, I will analyze the human rights and national security conversation revolving around how anti-immigration sentiment has spread to affect Central American and Muslim refugees across the United States. I will do this through both qualitative and quantitative methods. After introducing my paper, I will give a brief background of refugee policy and Trump Administration policy targeting Central American and Muslim refugees. After this, there will be a brief section describing the travel ban and the migrant caravan. I will then go into the analysis of how the Trump administration believes refugees are a national security threat, and how their critics believe that refugees deserve humane treatment and rights. I expect to find an increase in negative opinions directed toward refugees by the general public with the rise of Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric, and I will use human-rights arguments to frame my criticisms of Trump’s argument of national security.
Course Assignment
PLSC 490 - Disney and Lipscomb
How Anti-Immigration Sentiment Has Spread to Include Muslim and Central American Refugees During the Trump Administration: An Analysis of National Security and Human Rights
During the Trump Administration, there have been obvious anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, and anti-Central American sentiments. The anti-immigration sentiment previously did not reach what the public deemed the vulnerable population of refugees. However, falling under a recent spotlight, the Trump administration placed refugees under this anti-immigrant sentiment. Refugees and asylees are no longer seen as a vulnerable population; they are seen with a negative stigma, especially Muslim and Central American refugees. This negative stigma can be traced back to the terrorist attack of 9/11 causing the War on Terror, and more recently with the caravans from Central America. In this paper, I will analyze the human rights and national security conversation revolving around how anti-immigration sentiment has spread to affect Central American and Muslim refugees across the United States. I will do this through both qualitative and quantitative methods. After introducing my paper, I will give a brief background of refugee policy and Trump Administration policy targeting Central American and Muslim refugees. After this, there will be a brief section describing the travel ban and the migrant caravan. I will then go into the analysis of how the Trump administration believes refugees are a national security threat, and how their critics believe that refugees deserve humane treatment and rights. I expect to find an increase in negative opinions directed toward refugees by the general public with the rise of Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric, and I will use human-rights arguments to frame my criticisms of Trump’s argument of national security.
