ALF is a late 80’s, smart-talking space alien who wears no clothes. He’s like your funny uncle, except shorter and furry. Yes, even shorter and furrier than that uncle you’re thinking of right now.

But ALF is also an undocumented immigrant with many of the same day to day problems as human undocumented immigrants in the US.

ALF cannot babysit.

In the first season, the family he lives with, the Tanners, suddenly find themselves in need of a baby sitter for their 6 year old.

ALF offers to do it. The Tanners decline. ALF is rude and flaky and in the first episode he gave the kid a beer. (The kid didn’t drink it.) ALF is not babysitter material.

But those are just regular reasons to turn down a babysitter.

To spell it out, lets consider a babysitter’s job in no particular order:

  • Keep a kid safe.
  • Keep a kid fed and more-or-less happy.
  • If needed, call an ambulance.
  • If needed, call the police.

Any undocumented immigrant can do the first two. Few undocumented immigrants feel safe doing the last one.

But ALF shouldn’t feel safe even calling an ambulance!

Let’s set the scenario. ALF is somehow a great babysitter, but the kid gets hurt anyway. ALF calls 911. What next?

ALF has to either hide or expose himself to the paramedics who arrive.

  1. If ALF hides, the paramedics will conclude that the child was left home alone. That’s a big problem.
  2. If ALF is exposed, the paramedics may report him. That’s the premise of the show, people who see ALF may report him.

Every undocumented immigrant faces problems like these. At least the human ones can babysit.

ALF mostly gets by in his show through charm, including excellent use of the English language. ALF even sounds like a typical white American. So he has a certain confidence others cannot afford. Otherwise, I don’t know how he’d get by at all.