Their narrative is a calculated distortion, designed to divide and distract.
By Matthew A. McIntosh
Public Historian
Brewminate
Introduction: An Ecosystem Built for Lies
Over the past decade, the phrase “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) has evolved into a political identity that feeds on fear, resentment, and manufactured outrage. Among its most enduring and inflammatory crusades is the anti-immigration narrative, a campaign of distortion and disinformation that has reshaped American political discourse. Here I explore how MAGA leadership and its media ecosystem have constructed a false narrative surrounding immigration—ignoring facts, distorting history, and exploiting national insecurities for political gain.
Origins of the MAGA Immigration Myth
The rise of MAGA’s immigration rhetoric can be traced of course to the moment Donald Trump rode down the escalator, making the infamous claim that Mexican immigrants were “bringing drugs, bringing crime,” and that “they’re rapists.” From the outset, Trump’s movement painted immigration as an existential threat to American culture, economy, and safety.
This wasn’t a novel sentiment in American politics. Anti-immigrant rhetoric has been part of U.S. history since the 19th century, from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to the National Origins Act of 1924. But what MAGA accomplished was the modernization and mass amplification of this fear, packaging it in viral soundbites, decontextualized videos, and misleading statistics.
Misinformation and the Media Machine
One of the key tools in building the MAGA immigration narrative has been its symbiotic relationship with right-wing media. Outlets like Fox News, Breitbart, and The Daily Caller function not as journalistic institutions but as echo chambers, repeating exaggerated or false claims until they are accepted as truth.
The narrative is simple and emotionally potent: America is under siege by dangerous foreigners, and only strict enforcement and border walls can save it. This story is bolstered by cherry-picked crime stories involving undocumented immigrants—while ignoring the fact that immigrants are statistically less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens.
Meanwhile, conservative pundits circulate misleading videos showing large groups of migrants at the southern border, often without context about who they are (many are asylum seekers) or why they’re there (often fleeing violence and poverty caused in part by U.S. foreign policy).
The Border “Crisis” That Isn’t
The MAGA narrative relies heavily on the claim that the U.S. southern border is “open” or “broken.” This claim is both vague and misleading. In reality, U.S. border security funding has grown dramatically over the past two decades, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) apprehends hundreds of thousands of migrants each year.
Moreover, the overwhelming majority of people attempting to cross the border are doing so to seek asylum—a legal right under both U.S. and international law. Yet the MAGA narrative paints all migrants as criminals or invaders, intentionally blurring the distinction between legal and undocumented migration, between refugees and smugglers.
In fact, the so-called “border crisis” is often a crisis of bureaucracy, not security. The U.S. immigration system is backlogged, underfunded, and poorly equipped to process asylum claims quickly. The MAGA solution—mass deportations, family separation, and border militarization—does nothing to fix these systemic problems and instead often exacerbates humanitarian abuses.
Demonizing the “Other”: A Longstanding Political Strategy
What MAGA has achieved with immigration is not a solution, but a scapegoat. Immigrants are portrayed as the cause of everything from job loss to crime to cultural erosion. This xenophobia is not based on facts but on a political strategy: blame marginalized communities to distract from the failures of the powerful.
When wages stagnate, MAGA blames immigrants. When hospitals are overwhelmed, it blames undocumented patients. When rural communities face opioid addiction, they point fingers at border crossers—even though most drugs come through legal ports of entry and are trafficked by U.S. citizens.
This strategy of demonization relies on racial coding as well. While MAGA supporters claim their opposition is to “illegal immigration,” their outrage is almost always directed at immigrants of color—particularly Latinos and Muslims. Rarely do they express similar concern about Canadians or Europeans who overstay their visas, though they comprise a significant share of undocumented immigrants.
The Reality: Immigrants Are Essential to America
Contrary to MAGA’s narrative, immigrants are not a threat—they are a strength. They contribute billions to the U.S. economy, pay taxes, and fill vital roles in agriculture, healthcare, and technology. Immigrant-owned businesses employ millions of people. Their cultural contributions enrich American society in countless ways.
Studies consistently show that immigrants increase innovation, entrepreneurship, and even upward mobility. The idea that they are a drain on resources is not only false—it’s economically illiterate.
The children of immigrants—many of whom are U.S. citizens—are among the most academically successful and civically engaged youth in the country. Instead of seeing them as threats, the U.S. would do well to invest in them as the future of the nation.
The Political Endgame: Fear as Fuel
So why does MAGA continue to lie about immigration?
Because fear mobilizes. The more afraid people are, the more likely they are to vote for “strongman” candidates who promise harsh action and national purity. It’s no coincidence that immigration rhetoric intensifies before elections—it is a reliable rallying cry that distracts from issues like healthcare, inflation, corporate welfare, and climate change.
MAGA doesn’t want to solve immigration. It wants to weaponize it.
Conclusion: Rejecting the Lies, Rebuilding the Truth
America does face challenges related to immigration—but these challenges are largely the result of political dysfunction and a refusal to modernize a broken system. What we don’t face is an invasion, or a collapse, or a threat to our “way of life.”
The MAGA narrative surrounding immigration is a calculated distortion, designed to divide and distract. It is built on lies, sustained by propaganda, and animated by fear.
To reject that narrative is not to deny the need for secure borders or lawful process. It is to demand honesty, compassion, and policy rooted in fact—not fantasy.
Originally published by Brewminate, 06.05.2025, under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
