"Illegals in My Yard," a "spoof" Christmas song cooked up by conservative talk show hosts Matt Fox and A.J. Rice and set to the tune of "Feliz Navidad" is getting slammed in liberal circles for perpetuating racism — with lines suggesting that illegal immigrants "spread bubonic plague." Harmless satire, or hateful race-baiting?

It's the perfect holiday song...for 'bigots': What a terrific way to "spread some holiday racism," says Kyle Mantyla in Right Wing Watch. This "right-wing novelty tune" manages to cram "bigoted stereotypes" about Mexicans — ranging from drinking too much tequila to having "anchor babies" — into a single, brief "masterpiece" of hate.

"The perfect holiday gift for all the bigots in your life"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Lighten up. It's just satire: "Illegals in My Yard" is really a gift to liberals, say the editors of 24Ahead.com, because these "low-wattage radio hosts" are an easy target for the left. But the outrage is overblown. The song merely points out some downsides of using illegal labor, and, besides, it's satire, not congressional testimony.

"ThinkProgress v. Human Events: idiots clash over illegal immigration parody song"

Even spoofs have serious consequences: There's a pattern here, says Andrea Nill in Think Progress. Fox and Rice have also aired an insulting jab at the Obama family, and another Christmas melody, "We’re Beginning to Look A Lot like Marxists." This is part of an ongoing attack on the left, and the goal with these jokers' latest salvo is "spreading false and hateful stereotypes about Latinos" by portraying them as "bug-carrying invalids."

"New right-wing Christmas carol: 'Illegals in my Yard'"