Trump’s immigrant crime hotline trolled with reports of sightings of space aliens

Online activists have used Alien Day, an annual event for fans of the ‘Alien’ movie franchise, to troll US President Donald Trump’s new hotline aimed at assisting the victims of crime committed by illegal aliens.

Callers to the freephone number of the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office (VOICE) were kept on hold as lines were already tied up with hoaxers reporting sightings of space aliens and UFOs.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), working in line with an executive order issued by President Trump last January, opened the office Wednesday.

An ICE spokesman confirmed the delays, according to BuzzFeed News.

"There are certainly more constructive ways to make one's opinions heard than to prevent legitimate victims of crime from receiving the information and resources they seek because the lines are tied up by hoax callers," the spokesman said.

The government said the new office exists to provide information to victims but is not a means for reporting crimes. However, it will assist victims in determining what information is available to them about “an alien involved in a crime.”

Critics of the controversial initiative have accused it of targeting non-white immigrants and fostering racism.

The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to open the hotline on Alien Day, combined with the promotion of a freephone number, meant trolling was inevitable.

It wasn’t long until an impromptu campaign began on Twitter encouraging people to call the hotline with tales of close encounters of another kind.

Like all good netizens, the Twitteratti quickly followed the directive, tweeting to confirm that they had shared their alien abduction stories with the agency.

Some reported long delays getting through to the hotline due to the large volume of calls.