I recently heard Illegal Alien by Genesis on a Nova Scotia radio station. It is likely played with no thought to its political significance.
Subscribe now to access this story and more:
- Unlimited access to the website and app
- Exclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcasts
- Full access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on
- Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists
- Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists
Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.
- Unlimited access to the website and app
- Exclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcasts
- Full access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on
- Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists
- Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists
Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.
- Access additional stories every month
- Share your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting community
- Get email updates from your favourite authors
Sign In or Create an Account
The tune features Phil Collins singing about an illegal immigrant’s challenges in the United States circa 1984.
Apparently, Genesis sympathized with the difficulties faced by Mexican immigrants to the U.S. due to the band’s border hassles. At the time, the song seemed somewhat tacky but relatively harmless.
However, in Trump’s America, Collins’s fake Hispanic accent and lyrical hints about deceptive immigration practices might well reinforce the sort of racial stereotypes popular with MAGA. While ICE agents demonize and persecute Hispanic, Black and Arab Americans, they also harass and sometimes kill immigrants, especially those from Latin America.
Masked agents meet inflated arrest quotas to fill profit-driven private prisons. Americans, visiting foreign nationals and legal and “illegal” immigrants have endured ICE brutality, arbitrary detention and deportation.
Today’s United States offers only grim prospects to legal immigrants, landed immigrants and Trump’s domestic opponents. That’s no fun.
Morgan Duchesney, Baddeck
This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.