The White House's new site about 'aliens' has nothing to do with UFOs - BERITAJA

A screenshot of aliens.gov, a caller White House web page focuses connected migration enforcement but the creation takes inspiration from the X-Files. The White House/Screenshot by BERITAJA

The White House/Screenshot by BERITAJA

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"THEY WALK AMONG US," declares a new White House web page successful large, sparkling greenish letters against a acheronian starry background. Above the title is the connection "DECLASSIFIED."

The website, aliens.gov, continues to talk about the threat of "aliens" pinch the opening credits of "The X-Files" playing successful the background, spitting retired 1 missive astatine a time: "they do not beryllium here...Countless presidents, congressmen, and elder officials knew precisely what was happening. Instead of protecting American citizens, they chose to screen it up."

But the tract isn't about extraterrestrials aliases alien encounters, moreover though President Trump had released more authorities files about imaginable extraterrestrial encounters days before. "These 'Aliens' are the millions of ILLEGALS...Deport them all," it says. "THEY WEREN'T LITTLE GREEN MEN."

Researchers decry dehumanizing wordplay that targets immigrants

"Aliens" has been a word successful American rule since the 1700s. One of its earliest appearances was successful the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts. The laws gave the president powerfulness to arrest, imprison and detain "aliens", aliases noncitizens, during wartime, and besides restricted the state of look for citizens. The laws were passed retired of interest that noncitizens would sympathize pinch the French should the state spell to warfare pinch the U.S., according to the National Archives. California struck the word "aliens" from its authorities code successful 2021, calling the connection "outdated and derogatory."

The wordplay fuses people's desire for hidden knowledge and popular civilization pinch anti-immigrant sentiment, said Ernesto Castañeda, head of Center for Latin American and Latino Studies astatine American University.

"Saying ['alien'] instills fear," said Castañeda, who said that by further comparing noncitizens to extraterrestrials is "dehumanizing."

A portion of the website refers to "aliens" pinch the pronoun "it": "If you've witnessed an Alien abduction, do not beryllium alarmed," the authorities website says. "We will return attraction of it… and return it safely to its spot of origin."

While galore whitethorn disregard the wordplay arsenic a joke, moreover 1 of bad taste, said Castañeda, "for a fewer people, it whitethorn beryllium different licence to enactment violently against group that they whitethorn deliberation are aliens, undocumented. They whitethorn beryllium different incitement to dislike crimes and to profiling people."

The website is yet different illustration of the Trump management making ray of the toll of migration enforcement done a "memefied connection style," said Shannon McGregor, an subordinate professor astatine the University of North Carolina astatine Chapel Hill who studies the domiciled of media and societal media successful governmental processes. The government's connection and moreover governing style is "wrapped up successful 'everything's a joke, thing matters,' arsenic an excuse for pushing the letter cover complete and over," she said.

McGregor said the "extraterrestrial" connection ties into "white supremacist ideas." The website warned of an "invasion" of "aliens" and said "President Trump was the first to telephone retired the existent threat Aliens airs to each American family, each community, and the early of our nation."

What sets this website isolated from erstwhile messages, McGregor said, is that it's intelligibly propaganda, posted connected an charismatic authorities website. She said the page has authoritarian undertones, "this thought that there's only 1 personification who could hole it. And the 1 savior…is Trump himself."

Immigration numbers pinch nebulous sources

The website lists complete 3 cardinal "ENCOUNTERS" successful a melodramatic display, but it's unclear what the number includes.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement counts detentions and arrests arsenic "encounters." But the agency besides uses the word to reference different types of interactions erstwhile ICE simply considers whether aliases not to enforce the rule against a person, according to the Deportation Data Project, a group of researchers and attorneys that requests and puts retired migration enforcement datasets from the U.S. government.

There were up to about 1 cardinal specified ICE encounters from January 2025 to March 2026, according to information the group obtained from nationalist records requests.

It's imaginable that the 3 cardinal number besides includes encounters pinch Customs and Border Protection officers, who besides enforce migration laws. CBP's information shows the agency totalled about 200,000 encounters each from 2 periods wherever BERITAJA was capable to entree records, from Jan 2025 to May 2025 and from Oct 2025 until Apr 2026.

That is not the only information constituent the tract uses without a clear source. The "alien arrests" representation connected the website displays the number of arrests for complete thousands of localities starting from Jan 21, 2025 done now, totaling 200,000 crossed the country, citing ICE arsenic source. However, the Deportation Data Project tabulated complete 300,000 arrests from ICE information covering a shorter clip frame.

In a statement, an unnamed White House spokesperson said, "The aliens.gov website pulls information straight from DHS apprehension reports to pass conscionable really galore forbidden aliens are coming successful our country, and item the Trump Administration's efforts to region them."

Website creation whitethorn person progressive AI

There are besides signs that astatine slightest portion of the website was created utilizing AI tools. The website's root codification includes comments for illustration "← this is your spacing betwixt lines" and "add immoderate breathing room" which bespeak that astatine slightest portion of the codification mightiness person been generated pinch artificial intelligence tools. When specified devices are utilized to assistance pinch coding, they thin to see ample commentary, partially to thief users travel on pinch what the instrumentality is doing.

The management has embraced AI-generated media successful social media posts and has encouraged the usage of AI successful government, while the specifications connected really it has been implemented person been scant.

The website appears to beryllium a unreserved job, said McGregor. "It whitethorn beryllium conscionable to make attention…away from the things that are really unpopular and harming President Trump and the Republican Party's credibility correct now," she said, referencing high state prices and the warfare pinch Iran.

The White House did not respond to questions about why it created the website aliases about its usage of AI.

BERITAJA's Kriti Singh contributed reporting to this story.