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Covid-19 Messaging
Inclusive, intersectional messaging for immigrant rights coverage during Covid-19.
Immigrant Defense Project Live Discussion
This is a worksheet you can use to develop messaging for any campaign you’re working on. As you develop messages, keep in mind the needs of your audience. For example, look at the components of the flawed mental templates our audience holds about people who are immigrants. Which components are you disrupting, and with which parts of your messaging? What else does your audience need to hear to help them manage their complex and conflicting feelings?
Covid-19 Messaging
Problematic Terms to Reconsider
Problematic Terms to Reconsider
Term
Release non-violent/all but violent offenders from immigration detention.
Concerns
Let’s flip the question of safety to focus on who is most vulnerable inside.
Alternative
Release all people suffering in detention, starting with the elderly and people who are most medically vulnerable.
Term
Release immigrants who don’t pose a safety risk.
Concerns
This language unintentionally reinforcesICE’s framing. Let’s aim to soothe concerns by emphasizing community ties and contributions.
Alternative
Virtually all detained people have family or community ready to welcome them home, where they can practice social distancing.
Term
Most immigrants in detention don’t have criminal convictions or only have minor, low-level offenses
Concerns
Let’s indict the systems at play. Both the criminal legal and immigration systems are full of racial profiling and severe obstacles to justice. That makes these labels inaccurate and harmful.
Alternative
Shockingly, the government systematically deprives tens of thousands of immigrants of liberty. Even before COVID19, people had died from rampant medical neglect in ICE custody.
Term
Immigration detention is a civil matter, so people detained there are not being held for any crime and should be freed.
Concerns
Most of us have made this point before. We do want to highlight thatICE has always had broad power to free people. But if we draw a line between “civil” and “criminal,” that may unintentionally imply people in jailor prison are less deserving, when their lives are equally at risk.
Alternative
Whether community members are locked up in jail, prison, or detention centers, there is no way to flatten the curve. That’s why doctors are urging decarceration.
Term
Detained immigrants will get COVID19 and spread it to others, even outside detention.
Concerns
Let’s avoid accidentally implying that immigrants are spreaders of diseases.
Alternative
Abuses and medical neglect are systematic, which will cause COVID19to spread outside detention. We all have a stake in #FreeThemAll.
Term
Criminal, felon, convict, inmate
Concerns
If we center people, rather than labels, that helps recognize our common humanity.
Alternative
People, people in/with/who...
Problematic Terms to Reconsider
In this time of crisis, we’re all learning from each other as we fight to free people who are locked up. One thing that we’ve learned is that since the right-wing has spent decades building a messaging infrastructure, it’s easy for all of us to unintentionally slip into frames that ultimately do more harm than good. In the spirit of sharing, here are few quick tips for inclusive framing. We’d love to hear what you think!
Problematic Terms to Reconsider
Term
Release non-violent/all but violent offenders from immigration detention.
Concerns
Let’s flip the question of safety to focus on who is most vulnerable inside.
Alternative
Release all people suffering in detention, starting with the elderly and people who are most medically vulnerable.
Term
Release immigrants who don’t pose a safety risk.
Concerns
This language unintentionally reinforcesICE’s framing. Let’s aim to soothe concerns by emphasizing community ties and contributions.
Alternative
Virtually all detained people have family or community ready to welcome them home, where they can practice social distancing.
Term
Most immigrants in detention don’t have criminal convictions or only have minor, low-level offenses
Concerns
Let’s indict the systems at play. Both the criminal legal and immigration systems are full of racial profiling and severe obstacles to justice. That makes these labels inaccurate and harmful.
Alternative
Shockingly, the government systematically deprives tens of thousands of immigrants of liberty. Even before COVID19, people had died from rampant medical neglect in ICE custody.
Term
Immigration detention is a civil matter, so people detained there are not being held for any crime and should be freed.
Concerns
Most of us have made this point before. We do want to highlight thatICE has always had broad power to free people. But if we draw a line between “civil” and “criminal,” that may unintentionally imply people in jailor prison are less deserving, when their lives are equally at risk.
Alternative
Whether community members are locked up in jail, prison, or detention centers, there is no way to flatten the curve. That’s why doctors are urging decarceration.
Term
Detained immigrants will get COVID19 and spread it to others, even outside detention.
Concerns
Let’s avoid accidentally implying that immigrants are spreaders of diseases.
Alternative
Abuses and medical neglect are systematic, which will cause COVID19to spread outside detention. We all have a stake in #FreeThemAll.
Term
Criminal, felon, convict, inmate
Concerns
If we center people, rather than labels, that helps recognize our common humanity.
Alternative
People, people in/with/who...
Problematic Terms to Reconsider
Term
Release non-violent/all but violent offenders from immigration detention.
Concerns
Let’s flip the question of safety to focus on who is most vulnerable inside.
Alternative
Release all people suffering in detention, starting with the elderly and people who are most medically vulnerable.
Term
Release immigrants who don’t pose a safety risk.
Concerns
This language unintentionally reinforcesICE’s framing. Let’s aim to soothe concerns by emphasizing community ties and contributions.
Alternative
Virtually all detained people have family or community ready to welcome them home, where they can practice social distancing.
Term
Most immigrants in detention don’t have criminal convictions or only have minor, low-level offenses
Concerns
Let’s indict the systems at play. Both the criminal legal and immigration systems are full of racial profiling and severe obstacles to justice. That makes these labels inaccurate and harmful.
Alternative
Shockingly, the government systematically deprives tens of thousands of immigrants of liberty. Even before COVID19, people had died from rampant medical neglect in ICE custody.
Term
Immigration detention is a civil matter, so people detained there are not being held for any crime and should be freed.
Concerns
Most of us have made this point before. We do want to highlight thatICE has always had broad power to free people. But if we draw a line between “civil” and “criminal,” that may unintentionally imply people in jailor prison are less deserving, when their lives are equally at risk.
Alternative
Whether community members are locked up in jail, prison, or detention centers, there is no way to flatten the curve. That’s why doctors are urging decarceration.
Term
Detained immigrants will get COVID19 and spread it to others, even outside detention.
Concerns
Let’s avoid accidentally implying that immigrants are spreaders of diseases.
Alternative
Abuses and medical neglect are systematic, which will cause COVID19to spread outside detention. We all have a stake in #FreeThemAll.
Term
Criminal, felon, convict, inmate
Concerns
If we center people, rather than labels, that helps recognize our common humanity.
Alternative
People, people in/with/who...
