The Trump administration has launched a new website, Aliens.gov, which has stirred controversy due to its use of UFO themes to address the issue of illegal immigration. The site, which features neon green text declaring ‘THEY WALK AMONG US,’ includes an interactive map tracking ‘alien encounters,’ referring to purported arrests of illegal immigrants.
Website’s Language and Imagery
Alongside fake ‘declassified’ labels and references to ‘The X-Files,’ the website invites users to report ‘suspicious aliens.’ This approach has been criticized for dehumanizing immigrants by likening them to extraterrestrial beings. An AI-generated animation shared by the White House further depicts a UFO beaming up an illegal immigrant over the southern border wall.
The term ‘alien’ has a long history in U.S. immigration law, dating back to the Naturalization Act of 1790. Historically, it has been used as a bureaucratic term to describe individuals residing in the U.S. without citizenship. However, the Trump administration’s use of the term in this context has been seen as derogatory by some, as it suggests that immigrants do not belong in the country.
Historical Context and Political Implications
The term ‘alien’ has evolved over time, with its use becoming more prevalent in the mid-20th century to describe Mexican laborers on temporary visas. The label ‘illegal alien’ gained traction with the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which prioritized skilled labor over national origin quotas. Despite efforts by immigrant rights advocates to replace ‘alien’ with terms like ‘non-citizen’ or ‘migrant,’ the Trump administration defends its use of ‘illegal alien’ as factual.
Critics argue that such language strips immigrants of their personhood, making it easier to villainize them. The administration’s portrayal of immigrants as extraterrestrials has been compared to science fiction narratives that use alien invasions as allegories for immigration and empire anxieties.
While the Trump administration maintains that identifying individuals as ‘illegal aliens’ is not demeaning, the debate over language in immigration policy continues to be a contentious issue.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
