Beyond broken narratives: How journalists can better cover the health of undocumented communities

By Cat Carroll, Wisconsin Health Journalism Fellow

Too often, stories about immigrant communities focus solely on barriers, trauma, and lack of access rather than on resilience. Luz Garcini, Ph.D., a clinical health psychologist and epidemiologist, says she sees this pattern repeatedly in immigration coverage.

Speaking during an AHCJ panel at Health Journalism 2025 in Los Angeles on how journalists report on undocumented immigrants’ well-being and health care experiences, Garcini urged reporters to go deeper,  to highlight not just struggle, but also strength and to stay committed to the beat, even when it’s not at the top of the political agenda.

Throughout the discussion, Garcini and Jasmine Aguilera, audience and collaboration strategist at the Texas Tribune/ProPublica Investigative Unit, offered specific guidance on how journalists can more effectively cover experiences of undocumented individuals in the U.S.

Aguilera cautioned against relying on tired narratives that strip nuance from immigrant communities. She noted that deep polarization surrounding immigration affects how audiences respond to certain stories. Journalists, she said, must be careful not to write in ways that either fuel hateful rhetoric or, conversely, overcompensate by infantilizing or diminishing the complexity of the immigrant experience.

“I try to think about that constantly in my own work — how can I portray the full picture, the complex person, and not fall victim to the tropes,” Aguilera said.

Garcini added that journalists should ask themselves why they want to tell a particular story and what they hope readers will take away from it. By identifying their purpose, she says journalists can ground themselves in ethics and the “right way to do it.”

This reflective approach can help prevent immigration coverage from unintentionally harming communities, especially considering how audiences who may not support immigrant communities may interpret the story, she added. .

While the discussion centered on health reporting, these practices apply broadly to any immigration story. When covering how documentation status affects access to health care, thoughtful reporting can help readers understand complex policy implications while avoiding harm to vulnerable populations, Garcini said.

Building on this framework, Aguilera emphasized the importance of reporting that centers the voices of those most directly affected. While immigration advocates and legal professionals can offer valuable insights, she noted they may also have their own agendas. Acknowledging the difficulty of finding undocumented people willing to speak, she encouraged journalists to invest time in building trust.

This may involve attending community events and/or local churches and engaging in numerous informal conversations before conducting formal interviews. Aguilera said it may also involve some “give and take,” in which journalists provide information about local organizations offering particular services.

She said journalists should be mindful of how they may be perceived as authority figures in these communities. It is each journalist’s responsibility to acknowledge this power imbalance and help sources understand their agency in the reporting process. To ensure understanding of what journalists do, and what role sources play, Aguilera recommended using handouts from Define American available in a number of languages.

Garcini said that connecting with immigrant communities in these ways is key to telling more nuanced, human-centered stories about people not defined by their documentation status. She pointed out that using data from organizations like the American Psychological Association or the Latinx Immigrant Health Alliance can also add a layer of credibility and depth to the narratives, helping to provide context to the personal experiences shared. 

Aguilera also stressed the importance of perspective in storytelling.

“We as journalists need to make sure that our audience is also the immigrants who are going to be reading this story,” Aguilera said. “ Keep in mind that immigrants are your audience and not the ‘other’ in the story.”

Cat Carroll is a freelance journalist based in Madison, Wis.