Radio Station’s Song Parody on Illegal Aliens Falls Flat

Officials at radio station KS-103 thought a parody titled the “Mexican National Anthem” made a cute commentary about the problems of illegal immigration and drug trafficking at San Ysidro.

But few people found the song written to the tune of “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” amusing, and now the station finds itself the subject of several complaints lodged with the Federal Communications Commission.

Although the tune has been pulled, Latino listeners and others are still objecting to what they call the song’s racist message and questioning the station’s motive for broadcasting it.

Local Latino leaders said that more complaints will be filed with the FCC next week and a demonstration is being planned for in front of the station, spurred by the following lyrics:

They’ll be coming across the border when they come.

They’ll be coming across the border when they come.

They’ll be coming across the border, cause there is no law and order; they’ll be coming across the border when they come.

. . . They’ll be carrying drugs and handguns so they can have some real fun; they’ll be carrying drugs and handguns when they come.

. . . They will not have a green card but they sure know how to run hard; well, they will not have a green card when they come.

. . . Now, all they know is Spanish and if you don’t they will vanish; well, now, all they know is Spanish when they come.

The words tortillas, Taco Bell, que pasa and Frito-Lay are heard in the background.

Dave Parks, program director at KS-103, said that morning disc jockey Randy Miller “put together” the 60-second parody to address the “illegal alien problems specifically” and that the song was not intended as a commentary about the Latino community “in general.”

Miller, who was not available for comment, got the idea for the parody after watching a Cable News Network report about illegal immigration and drug trafficking at San Ysidro, Parks said. He said that Miller began working at the FM station on May 1, after arriving from Kansas City, Mo.

“The parody was based on fact . . . you can’t argue that,” Parks said. “We put the parody together on the assumption that even the Mexican-American community doesn’t condone” drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

However, Parks said that Miller only “ran” the idea by him--not the lyrics. When he heard the song, Parks said, his first reaction was that Miller made a mistake by calling it the “Mexican National Anthem” and encouraged him to change the title to the “Illegal Alien Anthem.”

But listeners still protested.

“Randy didn’t stop to think that it may offend the entire Latino community, and I didn’t think it would either. But when it did, we pulled it off the air,” Parks said.

The short-lived ditty was pulled last week, after it was aired for two days.

Daniel Hernandez, vice chairman of the Chicano Federation, charged that Miller and the station “used their creative license to make fun of a group of people.” Despite receiving complaints from the federation and others about the song, Hernandez said that station officials remained insensitive and did not pull the song until the complaints mounted.

“The title change infuriated people even more. One station official told me that she really couldn’t understand why people in the Mexican-American community were upset,” Hernandez said.

Jess Haro, chairman of the federation, credited Parks with pulling the offensive song off the air.

“Once he understood why people were upset, Parks seemed genuinely sorry that the incident happened. He apologized to me,” said Haro. “But, we’re still not happy and our group, too, will file a complaint with the FCC.”

Local FCC officials said they had received numerous complaints about the song and instructed callers to file written complaints with the FCC in Washington. Lisa McCree, an aide to Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego), said that several constituents called to complain about the song and they were also instructed to file written complaints with the FCC.

“I heard the song and found it appalling,” McCree said. “As public trustees of the airwaves, I felt the station was being irresponsible.”

Frito-Lay officials at the company’s corporate headquarters in Plano, Tex., expressed dismay over the use of their company’s name in the song.

“It’s unfortunate that Frito-Lay’s name was used in such a manner,” said Frito-Lay spokesman Charles Suscauage. “It’s obvious that the song is offensive to a segment of our population and we are in no way sponsoring or supporting this parody.”