SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Trump's Reviled Hotline for "Criminal Aliens" Flooded with Reports of UFOs
'Just tried to call to report the theft of my tractor by space cadets—on hold for 8 minutes had to abandon, will call again!'
Apr 27, 2017
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday unveiled its controversial immigrant crime office, complete with a hotline for U.S. citizens to report alleged crimes committed by undocumented aliens--which was promptly overwhelmed with calls about extraterrestrials, UFOs, and First Lady Melania Trump.
The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office (VOICE), which was announced in February, has been slammed by critics as a tool to scapegoat and demonize immigrants to serve President Donald Trump's "nativist" rhetoric. DHS chief John Kelly introduced the office at a press conference Wednesday where he refused to take questions from reporters, stating, "There's nothing but goodness in what we're doing here today."
Opponents disagreed. And they seemed to enjoy trolling the hotline after its introduction, with one man, Marine Corps veteran and journalist Alexander McCoy, telling BuzzFeed that he reported being abducted by a UFO.
"I think it's powerful to see the response there's been. I think there are a lot of people who have been searching for something they can do to speak out, and I'm glad that so many people are showing solidarity with the immigrant community," McCoy said.
\u201cWouldn't it be a shame if millions of people called this hotline to report their encounters with aliens of the UFO-variety. https://t.co/Cl048Gihnk\u201d— Alexander McCoy (@Alexander McCoy) 1493228439
Another woman called in to say she had been victimized by "an immigrant living in NYC on my tax dollars."
"The guy I spoke to kind of cut me off and asked if I was calling about the first lady and I said, 'how did you guess?' and he hung up on me," she told BuzzFeed.
Another person wrote, "Just tried to call to report the theft of my tractor by space cadets--on hold for 8 minutes had to abandon, will call again!"
McCoy later tweeted that the flood of calls appeared to have shut down the hotline. A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to BuzzFeed that the lines were "tied up by hoax callers."
\u201cMake sure when you call Trump's VOICE hotline to report undocumented aliens, remember to give Melania's address in NY and Mar a Lago\u201d— TBogg (@TBogg) 1493269149
\u201cTrumps\u2019 \u201cVOICE\u201d Hotline set up for people to report on crime from illegal aliens was reportedly overloaded with calls about space aliens\u201d— Robbie Gramer (@Robbie Gramer) 1493248933
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday unveiled its controversial immigrant crime office, complete with a hotline for U.S. citizens to report alleged crimes committed by undocumented aliens--which was promptly overwhelmed with calls about extraterrestrials, UFOs, and First Lady Melania Trump.
The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office (VOICE), which was announced in February, has been slammed by critics as a tool to scapegoat and demonize immigrants to serve President Donald Trump's "nativist" rhetoric. DHS chief John Kelly introduced the office at a press conference Wednesday where he refused to take questions from reporters, stating, "There's nothing but goodness in what we're doing here today."
Opponents disagreed. And they seemed to enjoy trolling the hotline after its introduction, with one man, Marine Corps veteran and journalist Alexander McCoy, telling BuzzFeed that he reported being abducted by a UFO.
"I think it's powerful to see the response there's been. I think there are a lot of people who have been searching for something they can do to speak out, and I'm glad that so many people are showing solidarity with the immigrant community," McCoy said.
\u201cWouldn't it be a shame if millions of people called this hotline to report their encounters with aliens of the UFO-variety. https://t.co/Cl048Gihnk\u201d— Alexander McCoy (@Alexander McCoy) 1493228439
Another woman called in to say she had been victimized by "an immigrant living in NYC on my tax dollars."
"The guy I spoke to kind of cut me off and asked if I was calling about the first lady and I said, 'how did you guess?' and he hung up on me," she told BuzzFeed.
Another person wrote, "Just tried to call to report the theft of my tractor by space cadets--on hold for 8 minutes had to abandon, will call again!"
McCoy later tweeted that the flood of calls appeared to have shut down the hotline. A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to BuzzFeed that the lines were "tied up by hoax callers."
\u201cMake sure when you call Trump's VOICE hotline to report undocumented aliens, remember to give Melania's address in NY and Mar a Lago\u201d— TBogg (@TBogg) 1493269149
\u201cTrumps\u2019 \u201cVOICE\u201d Hotline set up for people to report on crime from illegal aliens was reportedly overloaded with calls about space aliens\u201d— Robbie Gramer (@Robbie Gramer) 1493248933
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday unveiled its controversial immigrant crime office, complete with a hotline for U.S. citizens to report alleged crimes committed by undocumented aliens--which was promptly overwhelmed with calls about extraterrestrials, UFOs, and First Lady Melania Trump.
The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office (VOICE), which was announced in February, has been slammed by critics as a tool to scapegoat and demonize immigrants to serve President Donald Trump's "nativist" rhetoric. DHS chief John Kelly introduced the office at a press conference Wednesday where he refused to take questions from reporters, stating, "There's nothing but goodness in what we're doing here today."
Opponents disagreed. And they seemed to enjoy trolling the hotline after its introduction, with one man, Marine Corps veteran and journalist Alexander McCoy, telling BuzzFeed that he reported being abducted by a UFO.
"I think it's powerful to see the response there's been. I think there are a lot of people who have been searching for something they can do to speak out, and I'm glad that so many people are showing solidarity with the immigrant community," McCoy said.
\u201cWouldn't it be a shame if millions of people called this hotline to report their encounters with aliens of the UFO-variety. https://t.co/Cl048Gihnk\u201d— Alexander McCoy (@Alexander McCoy) 1493228439
Another woman called in to say she had been victimized by "an immigrant living in NYC on my tax dollars."
"The guy I spoke to kind of cut me off and asked if I was calling about the first lady and I said, 'how did you guess?' and he hung up on me," she told BuzzFeed.
Another person wrote, "Just tried to call to report the theft of my tractor by space cadets--on hold for 8 minutes had to abandon, will call again!"
McCoy later tweeted that the flood of calls appeared to have shut down the hotline. A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to BuzzFeed that the lines were "tied up by hoax callers."
\u201cMake sure when you call Trump's VOICE hotline to report undocumented aliens, remember to give Melania's address in NY and Mar a Lago\u201d— TBogg (@TBogg) 1493269149
\u201cTrumps\u2019 \u201cVOICE\u201d Hotline set up for people to report on crime from illegal aliens was reportedly overloaded with calls about space aliens\u201d— Robbie Gramer (@Robbie Gramer) 1493248933
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.