KRGV-TV NEWS CHANNEL 5 out of Weslaco, Texas, posted this story last night.

Border Busts Yield 147 Illegal Brazilians

As the t-media section of tradio21 is intended to be a place for exploring the language and perspectives used by the media when reporting on issues related to migration and human trafficking, this short KRGV-TV piece seems as good a place as any to begin.

Migration seems to be one of the few subjects where those that commit illegal acts are deemed “illegal�.

The language commonly used when referring to illegal immigration often present the actor as an illegal entity; instead of simply the act itself.

Few other acts of criminality use language that frame the criminal as the "thing" that is illegal. Most criminal acts usually have a criminal and a criminal act.

The popular language used to describe people who have entered a country without going through the appropriate processes blur the lines between person and the criminal act.

This dehumanizing language, although subtle, is still prevalent, as seen in this KRGV-TV story headline.

The use of the word “yield� helps to keep the “Brazilians� framed outside the context of personhood.

A yield is some thing yielded or produced; a product. One gains a yield from a crop harvest.

KRGV-TV stretches the common use of the word yield to apply to a collection of human beings.

The word “busts�, for those who watch late night American TV, summon up the image of the kick in the door, adrenaline pumping, action packed, real world TV scenarios of Fox Media’s COPS.

"Busts" are events that involve bad people and good people. The good people are “busting� into homes at 4:00am with guns drawn, overwhelming the dangerous bad people with a superiority of force.

American English uses the word "busted" as a form of ridicule. One can point at another person when they are caught trying to “get away� with something. One scornfully, or in jest, says “Busted�, implying “ha-ha you got caught�.

With this in mind it is worthwhile to look at the photo posted alongside this story (I have not been able to get the video to download).

From this photo we get a glimpse of several of the “illegals� “busted� by the border patrol.

The photo shows a young boy, who can be no older than 5 or 6, being lifted out of the back of a border patrol van. A woman holding several jackets watches alongside another boy, who appears to be in his early teens. A border patrol stands next to the both of them.

The word “child�, “children�, “family�, or “families� cannot be found in the story.

Children traveling some 3-4,000 miles, attempting to illegally enter into the United States?

Why is this not the story?

What about a story headline that seems more fitting for the picture associated with the story: “Brazilian Children Busted at the Border�?

Maybe such a headline would cause embarrassment? Or be something to be ashamed about?

Such a headline might not allow the story to end as it did:
"Agents do not yet know what caused the unusually heavy activity Thursday, but they it shows the success they are having as they secure the borders."

I am assuming this is a typo, which should read "..but they said it shows..."

In reading many stories on immigration and human trafficking, I often wonder what conscious or unconscious motivations compel journalists to make the choices they do when reporting on this subject matter.

What purpose is served by ending this story as a “success� story?