When labels make people less human
# **The Government’s Sci-Fi War on Immigrants: When "They Walk Among Us" Isn’t About Space Aliens**
## **A Website That Feels Like a Punchline**
When U.S. officials launched a new website, they didn’t offer groundbreaking revelations about extraterrestrial life. Instead, they turned immigration enforcement into a bizarre parody of sci-fi paranoia. Neon-bright text flashes:
> **"THEY WALK AMONG US."**
Beneath it, a "declassified dossier" doesn’t expose hidden aliens—it tracks immigrants. An interactive map marks locations where encounters sound less like *first contact* and more like *arrests*. The site even invites users to report **"suspicious aliens"**—a phrase that blurs the line between B-movie horror and real-world policy.
## **The Shifting Meaning of "Alien": From Foreign to Forbidden**
The word *alien* hasn’t always carried its modern weight. Centuries ago, it simply meant *something foreign*. By 1790, U.S. citizenship laws restricted naturalization to **"free white persons"**, painting America as a gated community from its inception.
In the 1800s, the term gained legal teeth. Laws stripped rights from outsiders. When labor shortages hit, Mexican workers on temporary visas were rebranded as **"illegal aliens"** if their paperwork didn’t align with factory demands. The 1960s and '70s kept the label alive, tying it to race, fear, and economic instability. Politicians like Reagan and Bush wielded it in debates, normalizing the idea that some people *don’t belong*.
Science Fiction’s Role: From Martians to "Others"
Sci-fi took the word and made it stranger. Early space stories turned alien into a euphemism for invaders—H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds was later read as a critique of colonialism or even a call for militarism. Modern films like War of the Worlds (2005) reflect post-9/11 paranoia, where extraterrestrials stand in for terrorists or entire nations.
The White House’s website follows this script, rewriting immigrants as fictional villains.
The Law’s Power of Language
Legal scholars argue that words shape outcomes. Courts that use alien in rulings are more likely to rule against immigrants. Advocates have fought for years to erase the term from laws and policies. States like California and Oregon have already done so. Even the Biden administration ordered agencies to drop alien in favor of "non-citizen" or "migrant."
Yet the current government insists the term is neutral. A spokesperson calls it "factual." They argue that labeling someone an "illegal alien" isn’t cruel—just accurate.
The Human Cost: When a Word Erases Personhood
For those who’ve lived with the word, it’s anything but neutral. A journalist who arrived in the U.S. as a child recalls seeing "resident alien" stamped on his fake green card. The phrase made him feel like a game character, stripped of humanity.
When officials treat immigrants like extraterrestrials, they’re not just joking—they’re erasing personhood first.
