The first of two Family Guy episodes that aired on Sunday night, “Dearly Deported,” played both sides of the immigration debate and threw in a random swipe at President Trump and his daughter Ivanka for good measure.
At the start of the show, Griffin family son Chris falls in love with a Mexican immigrant, Isabella, who later ends up being deported. Chris agrees to watch Isabella’s twin babies until she returns, but when it becomes apparent that Isabella will not be able to come back to America, Chris and his parents Peter and Lois travel to her village, Santa Terrible, in Mexico, to find her and return her children to her.
When they reach their destination, they decide “this is no place for Isabella to raise a family,” and decide to smuggle her and her twins back in to America.
When Isabella warns Lois that she could get arrested for smuggling her into the country, Lois says, “I realize that, but you have just as much right to a decent life for your children as anyone else.” So, Family Guy is sending the message that it’s okay to break America’s laws and ignore immigration policies because foreigners have a “right” to a decent life? As far as I was taught, “rights” in America apply to American citizens and if anyone else wants to enjoy the rights this county offers, they need to enter legally.
Aside from the “decent life” argument being a slap in the face to every immigrant who did the hard work to become a legal U.S. citizen, if everyone who deserves a “decent life” were allowed to enter America without going through the proper channels, our country would be overrun by illegals and our safety would be at stake. There are plenty of good reasons you can’t just enter a country…any country in this world…without following its laws and policies.
Speaking of the law, Mexican police officers confront Chris, Isabella and the rest of the group in the middle of the desert as they plot their escape, but instead of arresting them, they steal their plane and SUV. That’s when the writers decided to throw in a random Trump joke that has nothing to do with the scene.
Chris: Boy, I can't believe there'd be corrupt cops in Mexico.
Peter: Yeah, Donald Trump was right. His daughter is a hot piece of ass.
After a coyote attack and running out of food and water, Isabella’s aunt Consuela, who lives in the United States, arrives to find the group and tells them that they are already in America.
Consuela: Time for clean getaway.
Peter: Consuela?
Isabella: Tía? Ay, thank God. How did you find us?
Consuela: Babies' earring have chip.
Lois: Oh, well, this is great. Can you help us get to the border?
Consuela: Oh, you already in United States.
Peter: We are?
Consuela: Yes, this Texas.
Quagmire: What? S-so, wait, so we walked right across the border and didn't even know it? That is a problem. Right? I mean, politics aside, we can all agree, that is a problem.
Yes, indeed. On that we can agree. That is definitely a problem.
Then again, if the writers of Family Guy want us to believe that anyone who wants a “decent life” should be able to enter the country illegally, why would being able to cross the border so easily be a problem?
