Fear, Gossip, and Rumor: How the Trump Administration Has Affected the Latinx Community in Franklin

Abstract

My ethnographic research focuses on how rumor and gossip create a toxic atmosphere of suspicion, fear, and even paranoia of the Trump Administration within the Latinx community of Franklin, Pennsylvania. Through an examination of specific case studies, I highlight three areas where the punitive immigration policies of the current administration have caused wide-spread panic among Hispanics, as Trump's use of bureaucratic threats, like ICE raids, to say nothing of deportation, lead inevitably to a flurry of gossip within these tight-knit immigrant circles. I document the clear liminality experienced by Latinx residents in Franklin who find themselves marginalized within the larger community of the town. In this way, Franklin can be seen as a microcosm of what is occurring among the Latinx population across the United States today.