A far-right media personality with a history of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric has been granted unprecedented access to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, raising questions about the relationship between federal law enforcement agencies and partisan content creators during the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

Ben Bergquam, host of “Law and Border” on Real America’s Voice News and a correspondent for Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, has embedded with ICE agents on numerous occasions since President Donald Trump returned to office. He films immigration raids across the country, producing content that he distributes to more than 1.5 million followers across social media platforms. Unlike traditional journalists who maintain editorial independence, Bergquam openly positions himself as a cheerleader for the agency’s aggressive enforcement tactics.

The arrangement represents an unusual departure from standard media protocols. While some mainstream news outlets have occasionally been granted ride-alongs with ICE in recent years, none enjoys the consistent and unrestricted access that Bergquam has secured. His videos typically blur the faces of ICE agents while keeping detainees clearly visible, and he frequently editorializes in favor of the agency’s mission while agents conduct arrests.

In April, Bergquam posted footage of himself walking city streets alongside ICE agents searching for people to arrest. “Every day is Good Friday when we’re pickin’ up illegals!” he announced with a grin in the video, posted the Friday before Easter. That same month in Miami, he filmed a pre-dawn operation in which agents removed a man from his truck, then turned his camera toward an elderly woman outside a nearby house who cried out in Spanish as the man was taken into custody.

Bergquam’s involvement goes beyond observation. He often wears an “ICE” baseball cap during ride-alongs and delivers on-camera monologues supporting the agency’s tactics. He has called on agents to arrest not only undocumented immigrants but anyone who opposes ICE operations, describing protesters as “traitors,” “a cancer,” “cockroaches” and “enemies within.” After U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers shot and killed protester Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Bergquam stated on a podcast that the individual was “rightfully killed by ICE.”

The 43-year-old content creator claims he embeds with ICE “almost every week” and has posted footage from operations in Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Florida, Baltimore and other cities. In Gary, Indiana, he was permitted aboard a federal aircraft holding deportees, where he filmed handcuffed migrants inside the plane. He has also accompanied Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar and former acting ICE director, on immigration raids.

Bergquam’s content has attracted support from high-ranking officials, including Gregory Bovino, the recently retired Border Patrol commander who oversaw ICE operations in Minneapolis. Now-retired Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford explained the appeal of Bergquam’s work during an October appearance on Bannon’s show, stating that activist groups spread misinformation and “that’s why it’s important to do these interviews and have people like Ben out here tell our story.”

The relationship raises concerns among media scholars about the blurring of lines between independent journalism and state-sponsored propaganda. A.J. Bauer, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Alabama and author of “Making the Liberal Media,” told reporters that by inviting influencers like Bergquam who already share the government’s goals, the administration creates a veneer of transparency and oversight while actually producing propaganda.

“The propaganda Bergquam is producing is an attempt to create a pretext for the increasing expansion of ICE, and for a crackdown on any dissent,” Bauer said, noting that certain segments of the population consuming this content will be more willing to accept aggressive tactics when ICE expands its operations further.

Bergquam’s background reveals extensive connections to extremist movements and a pattern of inflammatory rhetoric. He frequently associates with the Proud Boys, a far-right organization whose leadership helped storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. While denying membership, he praised both the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers in a statement, thanking God for them and describing them as standing up against “violent Antifa terrorists.”

His social media history contains numerous anti-Muslim statements, including claims that “Satan created Islam” and that the religion is “not compatible with America or Europe.” He has called for “Crusade 2.0,” a reference to medieval holy wars that has been adopted by modern white supremacists. This month, after two teenagers killed three people at a San Diego mosque, police discovered a racist manifesto they had written titled “The New Crusade.”

Before establishing his current role, Bergquam built a reputation through viral video stunts targeting political opponents. In 2019, he and Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who describes herself as “pro-white nationalism” and a “proud Islamophobe,” were arrested for trespassing at California Governor Gavin Newsom’s mansion. Bergquam dressed as what he called a racist caricature of a Mexican named “Pancho Benny,” claiming the stunt mimicked migrants who “hop the wall” into the U.S.

That same year, he accompanied Marjorie Taylor Greene, then a QAnon conspiracy theorist and now a congresswoman, on a trip to Washington to confront Democratic members of Congress. Video footage shows them demanding entry to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s office and later harassing Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.

A federal lawsuit filed in January highlights concerns about Bergquam’s presence during ICE operations. A Somali American U.S. citizen sued the Trump administration, alleging he was racially profiled by ICE agents in Minneapolis who stopped him and his mother while they shoveled snow outside their home. According to the lawsuit, Bergquam accompanied the agents and filmed the interaction, during which agents allegedly demanded the mother remove her niqab and questioned them about speaking a “foreign language.” No such footage appears in videos Bergquam posted online.

In his videos from various cities, Bergquam lectures detainees as they’re arrested. In Phoenix, after filming agents breaking through a car window to reach a man shouting “no illegal,” Bergquam stood nearby and told him, “Listen to law enforcement, comply with their orders, and this won’t happen.” In Chicago, he captured an ICE agent complaining about state sanctuary policies, saying “they are trying to tie our hands behind our back.”

The content serves explicit propaganda purposes, with Bergquam making no attempt at objectivity. “Deport every illegal” has become one of his catchphrases, a reappropriation of the DEI abbreviation for diversity, equity and inclusion. Another is “God bless ICE,” which he filmed himself saying inside a Florida ICE facility in May while a dozen handcuffed immigrants sat behind him staring at the camera.

Bergquam frequently appears on Bannon’s “War Room,” one of Real America’s Voice’s most popular programs, where Bannon describes him as the show’s “best field reporter.” During these appearances, Bergquam delivers inflammatory commentary about anti-ICE protesters. Calling in from Minneapolis, he told Bannon that protesters “want to kill us” and are “demon possessed,” adding that many “wanted to be Renee Good” and “wanted to be Alex Pretti because they are willing to die to destroy this country.”

From protests in Los Angeles, he compared demonstrators to infected wounds, telling Bannon’s audience: “Sometimes you got to pull that scab off and squirt out the pus, and in this case, you see the pus all around me. It’s a cancer, it’s an infection, it’s gangrene.”

The Trump administration has increasingly elevated such loyalist influencers, granting them exclusive access to White House events, the Pentagon press room, and law enforcement operations while marginalizing traditional media outlets as “fake news.” This strategy creates the appearance of independent oversight while ensuring favorable coverage that aligns with administration goals.

ICE did not respond to requests for comment. When contacted, Bergquam stated he does “not speak for ICE” and only reports on “the great work they do.” He told reporters, “This is why America doesn’t trust you guys anymore. Your bias is so obvious yet you still pretend to be news.”

The arrangement between Bergquam and ICE represents a significant development in how federal law enforcement agencies manage their public image during controversial operations. As the administration pursues what it describes as the mass deportation of millions of immigrants, it has found in Bergquam a willing partner to produce content that frames these operations in a favorable light while demonizing those who question or resist them.