Building “Narrative Power” To Shift Policy and Opinion on Immigrants

Why This Matters

Immigrants are core to the fabric of California and integral to every aspect of life in our state—powering innovation and economic growth, sustaining our food and health systems, and enriching our neighborhoods and our culture in countless ways.

Californians across the political and ideological spectrum know that the public narrative around immigration is off course and disconnected from the reality of our day-to-day lives. Instead of being recognized as essential members of society, immigrants increasingly are viewed through the lens of harmful tropes and stereotypes. 

This shift in narrative hasn’t happened by chance. It has been shaped by years of coordinated messaging and well-funded campaigns that exploit people’s fears with the goal of influencing public opinion and policy. A key goal of this work has been to chip away at Americans’ strong public support for immigrants and immigration. At the same time, a transformed media landscape has opened new avenues for harmful messages about immigrants to spread via social media, streaming, AI, and other means. 

To reverse this tide, immigrants and their allies must reclaim the narrative. We need to put forward a clear, bold vision of belonging—while making a powerful case for common-sense, humane policy solutions.

It isn’t just about choosing different words; it’s about investing in the art of storytelling, and equipping changemakers on the ground with the skills to translate their ideas and vision into messages that resonate with the public and new audiences. And it isn’t just about putting forward positive stories or limited policy wins; it goes deeper. We are seeking to build an emotionally resonant narrative as well as the necessary “infrastructure” (platforms, messengers, networks) that can transmit our stories to new audiences, bridge divisions, and inspire the changes we seek.

[Anti-immigrant interests have] spent decades and millions of dollars on a long-term strategy that has gotten us to where we are today. If we don’t counter that with our own strategy to build a narrative infrastructure that shows how immigration and immigrants are essential to the fabric of the United States, then we are going to have a hard time.

Shauna Siggelkow, Vice President, Define American

The Problem

The national narrative around immigrants is being shaped by misinformation and fear over facts—with real-world consequences. Here’s what’s wrong:

• Media coverage of immigrants doesn’t reflect reality. A 2019 analysis by the Berkeley Media Studies Group of 2,000+ immigration news stories found that crime and border security were the most dominant frames. Remarkably, 86 percent of the news stories on immigration did not include quotes from immigrant speakers.
• Extremist rhetoric is all too common in the media—with anti-immigrant messaging getting the lion’s share of funding. The online media ecosystem is dominated by outlets that often transmit anti-immigrant messages, including rhetoric about “invasion” and the “great replacement theory.” During the 2024 election, a flood of anti-immigrant advertising presented Americans with a wildly distorted view of immigrants and immigration.
• Pro-immigrant advocates need more support to scale digital work. Immigrant rights advocates often rely on traditional media to share messages and human stories affirming the benefits of immigration. This is partly because of a lack of philanthropic investment in generating and disseminating digital content.

Investing in Solutions

Haas Jr. partners are testing and shaping bold and innovative solutions for countering these trends and reaching new audiences with pro-immigrant stories and narratives. In California and across the country, we are supporting grantees to:

• Advance authentic portrayals of immigrants in their full humanity. Haas Jr. partners are working with online influencers, TV sitcoms and other partners to share stories that center immigrants and lift up their contributions and their humanity. It’s a strategy focused on disrupting disinformation and harmful narratives and advancing positive views and more inclusive attitudes—all with the goal of building broader support for policies that protect and advance immigrant rights.
• Build the capacity of grassroots advocates to ramp up their digital narrative work. We are partnering with groups and networks to train and support more grassroots organizers, influencers, and leaders with research, data-driven strategies, and skills for advancing pro-immigrant narratives, especially in the digital realm. This includes work led by our partners at CoLAB to strengthen the capacity of immigrant rights organizations to capture and share humanizing stories that change hearts and minds, counter disinformation, and reach new audiences across digital platforms.
• Reach new audiences with pro-immigrant stories and messages. Estimates suggest that nearly 30% of the U.S. voting population, known as “the movable middle,” is a key in changing culture and policy on immigration. Haas Jr. partners like Asian American Futures and Define American are actively testing messages and strategies that connect with these moderate audiences who might have concerns about immigration but have the potential to shift to pro-immigrant attitudes and actions.
• Marry policy and legal campaigns with strong narrative strategies. Today’s legal and policy battles on immigration often hinge on what stories can sway public opinion. By weaving narrative strategies into organizing, policy, and legal work, Haas Jr. partners like the National Immigration Law Center are increasing the chances of successful outcomes while seeding broader cultural shifts in how people view and understand immigrants and immigration. Meanwhile, our partners at Justice Action Center are experts at uplifting human stories that emerge in their legal challenges against unjust immigration enforcement to influence attitudes outside the courtroom.

Looking Ahead

At a time when immigrants have been targeted with fearmongering and chaos-based narratives, more accurate narratives and stories are struggling to break through, especially in social media and the digital realm. Haas Jr. and our partners are working to change this dynamic by supporting our partners to amplify stories and narratives that mobilize their base and connect with the movable middle—all with the goal of building a bigger tent of support for immigrants and immigrant rights.

Community-building is a big part of narrative change. You need to mobilize every stakeholder to lean in, listen, and work together, to be able to mount the kind of powerful, unified response we need today.

Anita Vukovic, California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC)