Newspaper Media Framing of the Immigrant Workforce in the Context of Florida's 2023 Immigration Law

In 2023, Florida Senate Bill (SB) 1718 was covered by national newspapers as the issue of immigration enforcement was a key issue during the presidential campaign. Examining SB 1718 through the lens of crimmigration, or how immigration law and criminal matters increasingly converge and overlap, reveals that such laws aim to criminalize undocumented immigrants. Media framing shapes public perceptions about immigrants' perceived otherness, and these perceptions are leveraged by some politicians to strategically use the issue of immigration as a talking point or political campaign issue.

A ProQuest newspaper article search was used to identify articles with the search terms, "Florida," "immigration," and "law" and the date range of June 1 to August 16, 2023. A text-driven newspaper analysis of word frequencies and a thematic analysis of media framing was used to identify arguments supporting or opposing the law. The thematic analysis used a deductive approach to coding based on a prior codebook.

The article search generated 36 relevant newspaper articles relevant to the Florida immigration law. The law spurred opposition from businesses in the agriculture, construction, and tourism sectors for exacerbating an already tight labor market. Political supporters of the law argued that it protected borders, created a legal workforce, and saved taxpayer money.

This research identifies media argument framings and compares these arguments with media coverage over a decade ago when similar laws were passed in Arizona and Georgia to critically examine the evolution of these types of laws through the lens of crimmigration.