"MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN" - den eskalerande säkerhetiseringen av USA:s gräns mot Mexiko 2016-2018

Sammanfattning: This paper aims to understand the development of securitization of the US border with Mexico from 2016 until November 21st 2018, and argue that it can be seen as an escalation. Through applying the discourse analytical tools of ‘What’s the problem represented to be’-analysis and equivalence chains to tweets and remarks by Donald J. Trump as well as Fox News, we find the foundation of the securitization to be the existential threat representation of migrants crossing the border. Supported by scholars such as Doty, Sjöstedt and Huysmans, we conclude that societal security is securitized through the use of national security rhetoric. By tracking the discourse development within three themes - through the search terms “wall”, “MS-13” and “caravan” - we argue that the securitization has escalated through an intensified perception of the threat, resulting in hyper realistic language, in turn legitimizing the use of military practices.