LULAC CONDEMNS WHITE HOUSE "ALIENS.GOV" AS DEHUMANIZING ABOMINATION
Nation's Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Demands Immediate Removal of Website That Degrades Human Beings as Extraterrestrial Threats
WASHINGTON — The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) today denounces in the strongest possible terms the launch of Aliens.gov. This White House website depicts immigrant men, women, and children as extraterrestrial invaders "walking among us." LULAC condemns this government-sanctioned campaign as a grotesque, unprecedented act of state-sponsored dehumanization that has no place in a constitutional republic.
The website, unveiled May 28 under the slogan "They walk among us," directs the public to "report suspicious aliens" through an ICE tip line and includes the chilling line: "If you've witnessed an Alien abduction, do not be alarmed. The Alien is in good hands… and will be returned safely to its place of origin."
This is not policy. This is propaganda. And it is dangerous. To strip a human being of their humanity is the oldest and most cowardly tactic in the history of persecution. Every regime that has ever committed mass atrocity began by teaching its citizens to see other people as something less than human: as vermin, as parasites, as invaders, as aliens. The United States government has now joined that list. We will not be silent."
LULAC rejects every premise of this website. The people it targets are not phantoms. They are not science-fiction creations. They are neighbors, congregants, classmates, caregivers, taxpayers, military family members, and contributors to the American economy. To portray them as extraterrestrial threats, and to pay federal employees with taxpayer dollars to design, code, illustrate, and promote that portrayal, is a miscarriage of the public trust and a betrayal of the values this nation claims to defend.
And the danger does not stop at the people without papers. A government that deputizes its own citizens to report “suspicious aliens” is asking them to make a snap judgment about who belongs, and we all know what that judgment looks like in practice. There is no badge that says “citizen.” There is no glow that distinguishes the naturalized from the native-born from the undocumented. There is only suspicion, and suspicion in this country has always fallen along a color line.
###
About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation's oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization. Founded in 1929, LULAC is committed to advancing the rights and opportunities of Latino Americans through advocacy, community building, and education. With a growing network of councils nationwide, LULAC remains steadfast in its mission to protect and empower millions of Latinos, contributing daily to America's prosperity. For more information about LULAC and its initiatives, please visit www.lulac.org/.