Politicians Using Detainees as Props: A Decades-Long Trend

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  Published in Politics and Government on Sunday, March 22nd 2026 at 10:51 GMT by Toronto Star
      Locale: UNITED STATES

The Persistent Pageantry of Punishment: How American Politicians Have Long Used Detainees as Props

For decades, a disconcerting trend has played out on the American political stage: the strategic deployment of detainees and prisoners as visual aids. It's a tactic that transcends party lines, appearing under Democratic and Republican administrations alike, and often coincides with heightened debates around law and order, border security, and immigration. The imagery - rows of uniformed individuals, stark detention facilities, razor wire bisecting landscapes - isn't merely documentary; it's deliberately curated to shape public perception and galvanize support for specific policies.

Today, on Sunday, March 22nd, 2026, the practice continues to draw scrutiny, but its roots run deep, extending back to the Vietnam War era and beyond. Early examples, though less visually pervasive due to the limitations of the media at the time, involved showcasing captured enemy combatants. The underlying principle, however, remained constant: to visually validate a particular narrative and demonize the 'other.'

More recently, the tactic exploded in prominence during the Trump administration. The January 2017 executive order banning entry from several Muslim-majority countries immediately triggered a flood of images depicting detained individuals at airports. While the policy itself sparked legal challenges and protests, the accompanying visuals were arguably just as crucial. They weren't intended to inform the public about the realities of the ban, but to evoke a sense of national security concerns and justify the administration's actions. The optics, as many observers noted at the time, often overshadowed the actual policy substance.

The separation of families at the US-Mexico border offered another stark example. The resulting outrage over the humanitarian crisis was partially counteracted - at least in the eyes of some - by the release of carefully selected photographs of detained migrant children. These images, while ostensibly demonstrating the scale of the challenge, were also weaponized to reinforce a narrative of an "overwhelmed system" requiring drastic measures. Critics accurately pointed out the deeply unethical implications of exploiting the vulnerability of children for political gain.

It's a pattern that hasn't disappeared with a change in administration. The Biden administration has also faced accusations of utilizing images of detainees held at the border, prompting renewed concerns about the dehumanizing potential of the practice. While the context and justification may differ, the core tactic remains the same: leveraging the visual representation of confinement to bolster a political agenda.

Beyond immigration, the use of detainees as props is deeply embedded in the history of 'tough-on-crime' politics. The Reagan era's "war on drugs" frequently featured images of convicted drug dealers, serving to amplify fears about crime and justify increased funding for law enforcement and harsher penalties. This tactic continued into the 1990s with politicians leveraging photos of prisoners to argue for mandatory minimum sentencing laws. The visual of incarcerated individuals served as a proxy for societal breakdown, implicitly linking stricter punishments with public safety.

Experts like Andrea Flores of the ACLU rightly emphasize that "these people are not props." They are individuals with complex lives and stories, and reducing them to mere symbols in a political calculation is inherently unethical. John Palen, a professor of political communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains the tactic serves to "create a sense of fear and outrage" and to "shift the blame for complex social problems onto vulnerable populations." It allows politicians to sidestep meaningful dialogue about the root causes of crime or migration, instead relying on emotionally charged imagery to bypass critical thinking.

The ethical implications are profound. Do politicians have a moral obligation to protect the dignity and privacy of those in their custody? Should the images of individuals in vulnerable positions ever be exploited for political purposes? These are difficult questions with no easy answers. However, the persistence of this practice - spanning decades and multiple administrations - underscores the need for sustained public awareness and critical engagement with the images presented by those in power. It demands a deeper examination of the ways in which visual rhetoric can be used to manipulate public opinion and justify policies that may be detrimental to the very people they claim to protect.