Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Challenging Public Rhetoric Justifying Immigrants As ‘Indecent', Aaron Martin, Lisette Lemerise, Riya Chhabra, Sudharshana P. Kanduri, Julia Beleshi

Honors Scholarly Publications

Elites employ various rhetorical strategies in public discourse, including on the topic of immigration. As such, those with influence rely on storytelling to shape views about the narratives related to immigrants as a minority out-group. This has significant consequences, particularly in areas of policy development. Policy shapers have isolated immigrant groups by creating certain ideologically derived criteria well beyond citizenship for them to eventually receive “full American” status. Further, such status first has required immigrants to unduly prove their “worthiness” as exceptional—like being extra hardworking and very law abiding. Our essay seeks to show how foundational rhetoric is often intentionally …