Episode 53: The War of Words - How Rhetoric Shapes Immigration Policy

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Immigration policy isn’t just written in laws or enforced at borders—it’s fought in the language that defines who belongs and who doesn’t. In this episode, Bella Goode unpacks how words like illegal alien, dreamers, border invasion, and keep families together shape perception, drive policy, and normalize extremes. From Congress to cable news, ICE press releases to family stories on the ground, rhetoric decides what feels like common sense—and what cruelties the public will accept.

Key Takeaways To Listen For

• How dehumanizing labels like illegal alien criminalize people before facts are considered
• Why Republicans frame immigration as a threat and Democrats reframe it around dignity and trauma
• The CBS/Kristi Noem controversy and what it reveals about political pressure on media narratives
• ICE’s official messaging: why raids risking billions in trade are reframed as patriotic victories
• How psychological research shows repeated rhetoric reshapes public opinion and justifies harsher laws
• Case studies of powerful phrases and the policies they enabled

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

• Gallup
• CBS Face the Nation 
• Fox News 
• ACLU
• The National Immigration Law Center
• RAICES 
• Homeland Security 
• ICE 

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Bella Goode is a pseudonym — but the voice, research, and mission are all real. A Republican turned Democrat advocate in 2016, I was raised by middle class parents in Pennsylvania. I’m a former marketing executive, entrepreneur, and lifelong learner with an MBA from Wharton and a Master’s in Psychology from Penn. I spent decades telling stories in the business world; now I use those skills to connect the dots in American politics.

I’m here because the truth matters — and because the stakes have never been higher. Surviving Trump isn’t lighthearted. It’s clarity, evidence, and a fight for the future of our democracy.

Follow my blog on Substack https://survivingtrumppodcast.substack.com