In Search of a Safe Harbour: The Framing of Venezuelan Migrants in Mainstream Newspapers in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Driven by national, political and socio-economic circumstances in Venezuela, there has been a mass influx of Venezuelan migrants into Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Conditions in T&T have affected the receptivity of Venezuelan migrants. Using framing as the theoretical lens, this study extends research on media depictions of migrants into a Caribbean context by examining ways in which the mainstream newspapers in T&T presented Venezuelan migrants over a one-year period. Results reveal that although there is some attention to Venezuelan migrants’ integration into life in T&T, such attention is limited. Primarily, T&T newspapers other Venezuelan migrants by labelling and clustering them and highlighting their association with crime, human rights challenges they face and the State’s response. Such depictions have the potential to signal the manner in which Venezuelan migrants are seen and treated. We discuss the implications of these representations in relation to the existing literature and offer recommendations moving forward.