Religious and Political Discourse on Immigration: A Case Study of a Red-Zone Community in New Mexico

• In Event: Language, Borders, and Belonging: Multilingual Futures and Immigrant Students

Abstract

This case study examines how immigration attitudes are constructed through religious and political discourse in a conservative southeastern New Mexico community. Using Critical Whiteness Studies and Critical Discourse Analysis, the study analyzes five school board meetings and nine evangelical sermons to explore how immigration is discussed—often indirectly—through language of values, safety, and morality. Findings reveal five patterns: belonging is framed as conditional assimilation; cultural norms are morally elevated; leadership is sanctified when aligned with Christian nationalism; immigrant respect is nostalgic and selective; and biblical metaphors justify exclusionary politics. These overlapping discourses normalize whiteness and marginalize immigrant-origin families, even in a state often perceived as progressive. The study illuminates how religious and educational institutions reproduce racialized boundaries of belonging.

Authors

• Jenna Doane, The University of New Mexico

• Yi-Shan Li, The University of Texas System