ICE has been turned into a political instrument and propaganda tool
In a video produced by the Department of Homeland Security this month, two tricked-out ICE vehicles roll around on the National Mall to “Toes” by rapper DaBaby: “My heart so cold I think I’m done with ice (uh, brr) / Said if I leave her, she gon’ die / Well … you done with life.”
The vehicles feature a new ICE logo and DEFEND THE HOMELAND in block letters, painted in a color scheme similar to the president’s private plane. The Lincoln Memorial zips by and DaBaby continues: “Better not pull up with no knife / ’Cause I bring guns to fights.” There’s the White House, the Washington Monument, the U.S. Capitol. On the tinted glass of the pickup, PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP is stenciled in all caps, like a production credit.
“What I look like with all this money?” DaBaby asks, more of a taunt than a question.
The 29-second spot—shared on social media earlier this month with the caption “Iced Out” and a freezing-face emoji—treats ICE’s new taxpayer-funded fleet like flashy bling, but it’s a proclamation that the president’s mass-deportation campaign is entering a swaggering new phase. For many longtime Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and agency veterans, the video epitomizes the transformation of ICE from an agency focused on legalistic immigration procedures into a political instrument and propaganda tool.
Most ICE officers and agents prefer to work in plain clothes, focus on finding immigrants who are known criminals, and keep a low profile, especially in major U.S. cities where they are loathed by many, and where some activists use crowdsourcing apps to report their whereabouts in real time. Driving around in “wrapped” vehicles not only blows their cover; it potentially makes them a target for protesters, vandals, and attackers, agency veterans told me.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her small cadre of loyal aides have been pushing the agency to do more showy operations in Democratic-run cities that can advance the president’s agenda—and supply clips for social media and the MAGA faithful. “They love this cowboy shit,” one frustrated ICE official told me. [Continue reading…]