Sheryr Sonia

Dr. Despain

CODES 121

29 September 2024

Target Audience

Americans who think the immigration policies of the United States are too liberal or that immigrants coming into America are not contributing to the growth of the economy. This audience has a firm mindset and specific viewpoints regarding immigrants entering the United States. They are closed-minded towards immigrants coming to work in the United States and becoming part of the economy. This audience believes that the immigrants hurt the economy and that they do not add any value to the economy. In addition, they also have a strong opinion regarding immigrants as people who do not follow the law, and to an extent, they can be perceived as attributing criminal characteristics.

In actuality, nothing can be further from the truth. They are generalizing all immigrants as not productive members of society and perceiving them as non-abiding. An effective way to appeal to this audience is to team up with either journalists or those who have authentic knowledge, have done the research, and are well-received by society regarding this topic. Furthermore, a compelling method to appeal to this target audience would be to include institutions actively involved in research on the productivity of immigrants and their children. These research institutions focus on the demographics and the relation to the involvement of unlawful activities of immigrants.

Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research researched the mythical tie between immigration and crime. A graph in their research shows the incarceration rate between white U.S.-born and first-generation immigrants. Between 1860 and 1940, the rates were very even, almost the same, with little to no difference. In 1950, first-generation immigrants were ranked slightly higher compared to white Americans born in the U.S. From 1960 to the present, white U.S.-born have had higher rates than first-generation immigrants. In conclusion, this delineates how to effectively relay the information to clarify the misconceptions to this target audience.