ICE Recruitment Campaign Mirrors Extremist Messaging & Raises Serious Concern

The recent recruitment campaign from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows far more than ordinary patriotic advertising. A closer look at the agency’s social media outreach reveals repeated echoes of language and imagery long embraced by white nationalist movements, making it clear who ICE appears eager to attract.

Research analyst Hannah Gais described the posts as deeply unsettling. “I would describe it as oddly very familiar as someone who has been looking at the white nationalist and neo-Nazi movement for nearly a decade now,” she said. “It’s disturbing to see that coming from a government agency.”

Since returning to office, Donald Trump has dramatically expanded ICE, ordering mass deportations and pouring billions of dollars into new hiring. That hiring drive, however, is filled with signals aimed directly at extremists. One post featured Uncle Sam with the line “Which way, American man?” — a phrase lifted from a notorious antisemitic book popular with neo-Nazi circles. Another image carried the slogan “America for Americans,” language historically used by the Ku Klux Klan.

The pattern did not stop there. The Department of Homeland Security later used a reference from the video game Halo with the message “destroy the flood,” wording that mirrors how far-right groups describe non-white immigrants. Most alarming was a post declaring “We’ll have our home again,” accompanied by music known almost exclusively within white nationalist spaces. Extremism researcher Heidi Beirich said bluntly, “This is the kind of thing that I can’t find to be a mistake.”

Far-right organizations clearly understood the message. Proud Boys chapters reposted the material with comments like “message received” and “If you know, you know,” proudly acknowledging the digital dog whistles.

Beirich warned that the consequences are dangerous. “The most dangerous part is that this is probably attracting white supremacists and other racial extremists to perhaps join the ranks of ICE. And that is a very toxic, very dangerous situation if it’s happening,” she said.

Former government communications official David Lapan agreed that the strategy appears intentional. ICE messaging, he explained, is appealing to people who “want to get rid of foreigners” and “bust some heads.” He added, “I think ICE is headed in the wrong direction in that they’re attracting the wrong type of individual to be involved in a very serious mission.”

With billions more dollars planned for deportation efforts, the agency is positioning itself as a welcoming home for the very extremists who threaten the safety and rights of immigrant communities.

Link: CBC