South Dakota DHS Under Scrutiny for Aggressive Deportation Arrest Campaign on Social Media

In a significant shift from traditional government communications, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has dramatically altered its social media strategy, working closely with the White House to produce and distribute videos of agents arresting immigrants across its platforms, according to a detailed Washington Post investigation.

The report, which analyzed thousands of internal messages between ICE officials, reveals a coordinated effort to showcase enforcement operations in a more aggressive and public manner than previous administrations had permitted.

In June, ICE officials were directed by the White House to begin “flooding the airwaves” with arrest imagery. “We need all hands on deck to start ‘flooding the airwaves’ per White House direction on ALL ICE arrests nationwide today. The request is to flood social and traditional media with imagery of ICE arrests,” an agency official wrote in one of the messages obtained by the Post.

This approach represents a stark departure from past practices, according to David Lapan, a retired Marine Corps colonel who served as Department of Homeland Security press secretary during the first Trump administration. “We were supposed to present the facts, not hype things up. But this veers into propaganda, into creating fear,” Lapan told the Post. “We didn’t have this meme-ification of various serious operations, these things that are life or death… It’s not a joking matter. But that’s the way they’re treating it now.”

The agency, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security now led by Secretary Kristi Noem, has embraced popular social media trends and meme culture to promote President Trump’s immigration agenda. Internal communications reveal how ICE officials deliberate over content presentation, including discussions about which music should accompany arrest videos.

“Think country songs… this is Houston after all,” suggested one ICE video producer in an exchange with the agency’s assistant director for public affairs, who responded: “I feel like we need something a little more hard-core.”

The use of popular songs in these videos has generated controversy. Recent productions featuring Sabrina Carpenter’s “Juno” and SZA’s “Big Boys” prompted swift backlash from both artists. Carpenter described the video using her song as “evil and disgusting,” while SZA accused the administration of “rage-baiting artists for free promo.”

Beyond stylistic choices, the Post’s investigation suggests ICE officials are pressured to align their messaging with the administration’s focus on targeting what the president has called the “worst of the worst” immigrants. This has reportedly led to public affairs officers being asked to rewrite news releases and online posts to include more aggressive language.

“If the truth of the operation does not match the narrative of the ‘worst of the worst,’ it’s going to be killed,” an unnamed ICE official told the Post, suggesting some operations might not receive public attention if they don’t fit the desired narrative.

The White House has defended the approach. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Independent: “President Trump and his entire team are working at breakneck speed to keep our promises, deport criminal illegal aliens, and get information out to the public – that’s a good thing and the American people deserve no less, no matter what the Washington Post or disgruntled employees try to say.”

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin also defended the strategy, telling the Post that the White House has granted DHS and ICE the “autonomy to create content that is effectively reaching the American public.” She added that social media posts using copyrighted material were pre-approved by the administration’s legal team.

The shift in communication strategy comes as the Trump administration has made immigration enforcement a centerpiece of its policy agenda. The focus on producing and distributing arrest videos represents a new frontier in government communications, blending law enforcement operations with social media engagement tactics more commonly associated with entertainment and commercial marketing.

Critics argue this approach risks trivializing serious law enforcement matters and potentially dehumanizing those being arrested, while supporters maintain it effectively communicates the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities to the public.