Moral Outrage at the Border: Child Refugee Separation at the US–Mexican Border and the Audience Response

The immigration crisis at the US–Mexican border is among the most polarizing issues in modern US politics. In 2020, the crisis further intensified when heartbreaking stories of children being separated from families appeared across news and social media. Prominent emotional reactions include was outrage and righteous anger. This study provides a mixed-method analysis of moral outrage on child separation at the US-Mexico border. The results show that the negative feeling of outrage evoked by children’s separation should be critically examined in the context of the humanitarian crisis, news media reporting, and immigration-related policy reforms. As a result of the outrage, people may consider the news media as biased that may further exacerbate trust in the news media.