The White House launches a website that compares immigrants to aliens: "They walk among us"
On the portal, the Trump administration blames former presidents, congressmen and officials for having covered up immigrants "and for having accelerated their invasion"
WashingtonThe Trump administration has launched a website with a space aesthetic that compares undocumented immigrants with extraterrestrials, boasts about the total number of detentions it has carried out and encourages reporting any "suspicious alien activity" to immigration agents (ICE).
In English, the word alien means both extraterrestrial and immigrant. It is the legal term that in the United States defines immigrants who are not American citizens, including undocumented individuals, tourists, students, temporary visa workers, and green card holders. However, Donald Trump began to use the word solely to refer to undocumented immigrants, and he based this wordplay on comparing them to dangerous extraterrestrials.
"They walk among us," says the headline of the website www.whitehouse.gov/aliens
, with fluorescent text and a starry sky background reminiscent of the credits of Star Wars movies. "For sixty years, the United States government has been hiding a secret. Aliens walk among us, live in our neighborhoods, and interact with us in our daily lives. They shop at the same stores, attend the same classes as our children, and live seemingly normal human lives. With one exception: they do not belong here."
Next, a counter appears showing the number of "encounters" that have occurred – more than three million on Friday afternoon – and a map that allows navigation through different parts of the country to obtain information, such as the number of detentions in each area, the nationalities of those detained, or the crimes they are accused of.
On the website, the White House blames former presidents, congressmen, and officials for having covered up for immigrants "and even for having accelerated their invasion," despite knowing "exactly what was happening," and praises Trump's role in the fight against immigrants. "Until one man finally had the courage to tell the truth. With determination. Without complexes. Without fear. President Trump was the first to warn of the real danger that aliens represent to every American family, to every community, and to the future of our nation," the text states.
Further down, there is a link to the website where anyone can provide "tips" to ICE about any "suspicious alien activity", as the administration calls it. When the White House registered the domain aliens.gov, many thought it could be related to Trump's wishes to declassify documents about UFOs and extraterrestrial life. The same seemed to be true this Thursday, when the administration announced that it would soon launch the website.
One of the main priorities of the Trump administration has been to deport millions of people who are in the United States without a residency permit. However, in recent months the government has been forced to reduce the deployment it was carrying out after an ICE operation in Minnesota ended with two American citizens dead at the hands of agents and caused enormous rejection throughout the country, as well as the partial closure of the Department of Homeland Security.