Illegal migration is a global issue and has impact in every aspect of human life. This study attempted to examine the coverage and framing of illegal migration in the Ethiopian print media with a closer look at Addis Zemen and Reporter newspapers. Addis Zemen is a historical and the oldest existing newspaper in Ethiopia since 1941, and Reporter is one of the longest surviving private newspapers in Ethiopia, commencing in 1995. To examine the coverage and framing of illegal migration, the researcher focuses on the frequencies, the size of story, the types of stories, the sources of stories, the placement of story, the types of frame dominantly used by the two newspapers and how the two newspapers frame illegal migration. Using SPSS and qualitative description the researcher used both quantitative and qualitative research methods to analyze the amount and the framing of stories about illegal migration published by the two newspapers. The findings indicate that the extent of illegal migration coverage is little in the two newspapers. Out of the total 242(100%) editions published in both Addis Zemen and Reporter newspapers 28 editions which account 11.56% include illegal migration stories and 214 editions which account 88.44% of the total editions exclude illegal migration stories. Relatively, Reporter gave some more coverage for illegal migration than Addis Zemen. The qualitative data also shows that the two newspapers gave little attention for illegal migration because of different challenges. The interviewees (journalists and editors in the two newspapers) realize that illegal migration in 2017 is “under reported” because, lack of media freedom, lack of training, lack of journalists’ motivation; financial problem and other factors that affect the coverage of illegal migration. Regarding the type of stories published by the two newspapers, they emphasize hard news. The two newspapers predominantly used local government as a source of stories. Concerning the placement of the story, Addis Zemen presented more stories in its front pages than Reporter. In order to check whether the difference is significance or not, the researcher used the chi-square test. The statistical results show that there are significant differences between the two newspapers regarding the coverage of illegal migration, the frequency of illegal migration story, the space given for illegal migration, the type of story, the placement and the type of frame. However there is no significant difference concerning the sources used by the two newspapers. The finding concerning the types of framing shows that Addis Zemen predominantly used economic frame, while Reporter predominantly used security frame in reporting illegal migration. Hence, Addis Zemen gave priority to economic perspectives; while Reporter gave attention to security perspectives rather than reporting illegal migration from varies angles. Finally, the researcher suggests that the two newspapers should give large coverage and reporting illegal migration in varies perspectives.