The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently used an iconic image from the 1982 movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to promote its white supremacist policies on social media.
“Even E.T. knew when it was TIME TO GO HOME,” DHS’s edited version of the movie poster reads, underneath a picture of E.T. and Elliot, the science fiction movie’s protagonists, riding a bike across the night sky. “Take control of your departure using the CBP [Customs and Border Protection] app.”
On July 16, DHS posted the image on its Instagram, X and Facebook pages. The Latin Times was the first outlet to report on the posts.
“Illegal aliens, take a page from E.T. and PHONE HOME,” DHS posted on Facebook. “If you are here illegally, leave NOW — the easy way — using the CBP Home App. You will receive travel assistance and a stipend to return to your home country. Take control of your self-departure: www.dhs.gov/cbphome.”
It seems unlikely that the movie’s director, Steven Spielberg, who advised President Joe Biden on his reelection campaign, would approve of its use. Billboard magazine has cataloged numerous instances of Trump using musicians’ work without their permission, which has prompted several lawsuits.
On July 23, DHS, along with the White House, also posted the 1872 painting, American Progress by John Gast — a depiction of manifest destiny — to its social media pages. Manifest Destiny is the idea that white settlers were ordained to expand westward and steal Indigenous people’s land.
“A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth defending,” reads the caption on the DHS Instagram post.
Many lambasted the agency for celebrating a concept used to justify the genocide of Indigenous people.
“You don’t need to be an art history major to pick up on the reactionary subtext of DHS’ messaging,” Zeeshan Aleem wrote in a commentary for MSNBC. “The agency is promoting the idea that America’s most authentic heritage can be traced back to its history of ethnic cleansing, racist social hierarchies and racial domination. The ‘homeland’ is to be expropriated and protected from savages, and the people who most belong are the European settler class.”
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