Shaping the Narrative: How Major Media Outlets Cover Immigration

How does the story selection of news outlets across the political spectrum drive our discussions on immigration?

For the six-part Shaping the Narrative series, AllSides examined how often national news media outlets covered select topics on their homepages, including: the economy, the Trump administration, politics, international news, immigration, and crime. 

In part four of this series, we’re breaking down coverage of immigration. Some key findings were: 

• Outlets rated as Left and Lean Left by AllSides emphasized on their homepages coverage on immigration court cases where the immigrant received a ‘legal win’
• Right and Lean Right outlets emphasized coverage on immigration court cases where the Trump administration received a ‘legal win’
• Center outlets covered immigration the least on their homepages, on average
• Right and Lean Right outlets typically covered stories on immigration in relation to crimes
• Left and Lean Left outlets typically covered stories on immigration in relation to systematic abuses they may receive

We collected and analyzed headlines from the homepages of 16 outlets across the political spectrum over the course of 14 days (April 9 – April 22, 2025). 

For the purposes of this study, we analyzed articles about immigration, immigrants, borders, illegals/aliens, sanctuary city, and cartels (Full Breakdown per Topic - Report). Read more about how topics were labeled in AllSides’ Topic Mapping Methodology. 

Note: Outlets may have changed their headlines since the data collection period. Our analysis is based on the headlines as they appeared when collected. For the purposes of this project, wire news content and opinion pieces were included in the overall headline analysis for each hosting news outlet. AllSides assumes that such content passed each outlet’s standard of review and is thus attributed to the hosting news outlet.

Read more from the Shaping the Narrative series:

• Shaping the Narrative: Economy
• Shaping the Narrative: Trump Administration
• Shaping the Narrative: Politics
• Shaping the Narrative: International News

Which News Outlets Covered Immigration the Most — or Least?

On average, immigration was covered on homepages the most by outlets AllSides rates as Lean Left – representing about 14% of all articles appearing on these outlets’ homepages during this research period. 

Associated Press (Left bias) covered immigration the most of any outlet analyzed – 19% of all articles collected. This was followed by ABC News (Lean Left bias) – 17% of all articles collected and Breitbart (Right bias) with 14%.

The outlets that covered immigration on their homepages the least were Wall Street Journal (Center bias) at 5%, followed by the New York Post (Lean Right bias) and Wall Street Journal Opinion (Lean Right bias), both at 4%.

How Are Left & Lean Left Outlets Covering Immigration?

Left and Lean Left outlets generally covered immigration the most out of the bias groups. In this coverage, these outlets typically focused on court case decisions that provided ‘wins’ for the defendants, and ‘losses’ for the Trump administration. These outlets often slanted stories to focus on the controversies of deportations, as opposed to any potential justifications or arguments for the deportation of undocumented immigrants. 

ABC News (Lean Left bias) published the sensational headline, “'Nothing has been done': Judge slams DOJ in case of wrongly deported man.” Across the outlet’s coverage of immigration cases, it emphasized the angle that the deportations were done “wrongly,” and “erroneously,” examples of word choice bias. It also often focused on the side of the defense for immigration cases, an example of bias by viewpoint placement.

Associated Press (Left bias) wrote the headline, “US seeks to turn deportations into an efficient business ‘like Amazon’.” The outlet included a subsection, quoting Carly Pérez Fernández – Detention Watch Network spokesperson – on the potential “inhumane” conditions that immigrants face in detention centers. It further emphasized the role of distance with regards to new detention centers and the conditions immigrants are faced with in these centers, an example of slant.

The Washington Post (Lean Left bias) spun the headline, “Trump’s deportation of Maryland man divides conservatives,” framing the story of the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia into a discussion of left vs right. The outlet laid out the debate amongst conservatives as “a clash of two long-held principles: fighting illegal immigration and defending personal liberties.”

RELATED: Tracking Controversial Deportations and Detainments Under the Trump Administration

MSNBC (Left bias) wrote the sensational headline, “Judge blasts ‘fallacy’ of Trump administration’s Abrego Garcia ‘facilitation’ word games,” through the use of the term “blasts.” The article exhibits constant critiques over the Trump administration’s legal arguments, noting the government admitted the deportation was done in error.

How Are Center Outlets Covering Immigration?

Center outlets covered immigration the least, and often focused on legal perspectives about the rampant deportations. However, much like Left and Lean Left outlets, Center outlets typically quoted court cases that provided criticisms of the Trump administration’s methods of deporting immigrants across the country. 

Reuters (Center bias) wrote, “Republican senator criticizes Trump, calls Abrego Garcia case a 'screw up'.” The outlet did not feature immigration stories on its homepage a substantial amount – only doing so 12 times over the data collection period – however, in the limited coverage afforded to the topic, the outlet emphasized more critical perspectives and outcomes on deportations and deportation cases. (This critical coverage is reflected in Reuters’ bias rating, which is -0.8 on our Bias Meter, which is close to the Lean Left category.)

Wall Street Journal (Center bias) published the headline, “He Represented Contentious Immigration Cases for the Government. His Candor Lost Him His Job.” The article goes in-depth with how ex-Justice Department lawyer Erez Reuveni admitted that the government did not provide a reason to him on the deportation of Abrego Garcia. He was later fired under the reasoning that he failed to “follow orders and [hurt] the government’s position.” The outlet did not cover immigration very much on its homepage, and in the short instances it did, it generally focused on the facts of each case, while also primarily focusing on the perspectives of critics of Trump’s potentially illegal deportations.

BBC News (Center bias) wrote, “Anxiety at US colleges as foreign students are detained and visas revoked.” While in isolation, the headline appears rather neutral, the outlet only reported on immigration on its homepage seven times in the time frame analyzed, and featured this story despite overall limited homepage coverage. Additionally, the headline appears to be adding to the “anxiety,” potentially fearmongering or showing emotionalism/sensationalism, and ultimately conveying an example of negativity bias.

How Are Right and Lean Right Outlets Covering Immigration?

Right and Lean Right outlets generally focused on immigration cases that showcased “wins” for the Trump administration, or on stories in which immigrants were connected with crimes. Additionally, these outlets generally covered stories that were not covered by Left and Center outlets, placing them higher on their respective homepages, showing bias by story placement. 

New York Post (Lean Right bias) wrote, “Cry baby Tren de Aragua gangbanger sobs to Florida cops after crew gets busted in liquor store robbery.” This headline is an example of mudslinging, as the outlet insults an immigrant, calling him a “cry baby.” The article itself notes how the arrested man was “allegedly part of a four-person gang,” in contrast to the headline which directly claims the man was a “Tren de Agua gangbanger.” Additionally, the outlet used an unsavory photo of the arrested man, in the middle of his crying, an example of photo bias.

Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) published the headline, “Van Hollen skirts question as to whether Abrego Garcia is MS-13 member.” The headline omitted the reasoning behind Van Hollen’s avoidance of the aforementioned question, only mentioning it in the text of the article, an example of bias by omission of viewpoint. 

Newsmax (Right bias) primarily focused homepage reports on immigration cases where the Trump administration scored a ‘win.’ For example: “Judge: US Can Deport Pro-Palestinian Student” and “Federal Judge Sides with Trump Admin on Immigration Enforcement.” This is in direct opposition to Left outlets, which often emphasized court case decisions that acted as ‘losses’ for the Trump administration, an example of story choice bias.

Fox News (Right bias) published the sensational headline, “Trump officials scorch Dems as 'horrific' details emerge about deported alleged gangbanger.” The outlet covered immigration on its homepage 18 times, and often reported on the topic in relation to crime: “Illegal immigrant arrested for heinous crime involving teen, captured by ICE” and “Attorney blames failed 'border policies' for coach's alleged murder of 13-year-old player.” These stories were not widely covered by the other media outlets during the data collection period; Fox News pushed these stories further up on its homepage, an example of story placement bias and story choice bias. 

Was Coverage Influenced by Political Bias?

The data collected shows that Left and Lean Left outlets dedicated 13% of their total homepage coverage to immigration. In this coverage, these outlets generally focused on immigration court cases that provided legal ‘wins’ for the immigrants. 

This was in contrast to Right and Lean Right outlets, which dedicated 10% of their homepage coverage to immigration, and generally focused on immigration court cases that provided legal ‘wins’ for the Trump administration. Additionally, Right and Lean Right outlets often covered stories on immigrants committing crimes; meanwhile, Left and Lean Left outlets typically focused on immigrants as ‘victims’ either by being ‘wrongfully deported’ or treated ‘inhumanely’ in detention centers, among other points.

Center outlets covered immigration the least, with about 6% of homepage coverage dedicated to the topic. Throughout this limited coverage, Center outlets covered immigration court cases that tended to be critical of the Trump administration’s deportation operations. It should be noted that this may or may not be indicative of shared bias with Left and Lean Left outlets on the topic, as Center outlets did not exhibit many types of bias beyond potential negativity bias towards the Trump administration. 

See how major media outlets covered International News in the fifth part of our analysis.

Emanuel Macuixtle is a Policy Analyst and Research Assistant at AllSides. He has a Left bias.

This blog was edited and reviewed by Andrew Weinzrierl, Bias Research Manager & Data Journalist (Lean Left), Andy Gorel, News and Social Media Editor (Center), Henry A. Brechter, Editor-in-Chief (Center), and Julie Mastrine, Director of Marketing and Bias Ratings (Right).