From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

ICE nodding to far-right extremists in recruitment posts, experts say | CBC News

At first glance, there may not appear to be anything unusual about the
social media posts that are part of the ongoing recruitment drive by U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The posts, which encourage Americans to join ICE, use the same aggressively patriotic imagery that's become a hallmark of the Trump administration's online communications.

But to observers of the far-right, and to members of the far-right
themselves, there is something else that is recognizable in the language of the posts.

"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, "
said Hannah Gais, a senior research analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Centre, a non-profit that monitors right-wing extremism.

"It's disturbing to see that coming from a government agency. "
FILE - A person walks near the stage during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hiring fair in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Aug. 26,
2025. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
A person walks by the stage during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hiring fair in Arlington, Texas, in August 2025. A recruitment drive starting last year added 12,000 new ICE officers, more than doubling the
size of the force. (Julio Cortez/The Associated Press)

Gais is among several U. S. experts tracking a series of references in the
ICE recruitment posts that, while obscure to most, seem to be winking to extremists.

That's raised the question: Who, exactly, ICE is trying to recruit?
Invoking non-fiction book popular with neo-Nazis

In the year since returning to power, U. S. President Donald Trump has overseen a dramatic expansion to ICE, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for enforcing immigration within the country.

Trump has set a goal of deporting one million people per year. But as ICE
has ramped up arrests, it has been repeatedly accused of racially profiling suspected immigrants and using excessive force in its operations.

Under the "Big Beautiful Bill" passed last summer, ICE was given $8 billion
US to hire thousands more agents. The ensuing recruitment drive included social media outreach.

On Aug 11, 2025, ICE posted an image on its socials of Uncle Sam at a crossroads. It included the tag line "Which way, American man? "

Which way, American man? <a href="https: //t. co/nZkBEj3GGi">https: //t. co/nZkBEj3GGi</a> <a href="https: //t. co/Nvz5DlgpKx">pic. twitter. com/Nvz5DlgpKx</a>
—DHSgov

The post echoed a meme popular among right-wing influencers, who use the phrase "Which way, Western man? " to illustrate a choice between an image meant to represent liberal values and an image representing their own preferred option.

But the phrase itself is taken from the title of a 700-page antisemetic nonfiction book written by William Gayley Simpson and published by a neo-
Nazi press in the late 1970s.

The book has long been a favourite among white supremacists.
Using white supremacist anthem

By itself, the language could have been chalked up to an unfortunate coincidence. But other troubling posts soon followed.

In October, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, posted
an image of George Washington on horseback with the URL to the ICE
recruitment page. This time the tag line read "America for Americans. "

It's a slogan that was used in a xenophobic speech by President Theodore Rosevelt in 1916, before being picked up by the Klu Klux Klan, according to America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by
Harvard history professor Erika Lee.

Finishing this fight. <a href="https: //t. co/6Ezq9NUqMq">pic. twitter. com/6Ezq9NUqMq</a>
—DHSgov

Not long after, DHS borrowed imagery from the popular video game Halo,
writing "destroy the flood" atop an armed vehicle.

In the world of the video game, the flood refers to a parasitic alien lifeform. It's also reminiscent of the language far-right groups use to describe non-white immigrants, according to Gais.

Most recently, in the aftermath of the killing of Renee Good in
Minneapolis, ICE put out a recruitment post emblazoned with the line "We'll have our home again. "

On Instagram the post first appeared with a clip from a song of the same
name by the Pine Tree Riots.

"It is a song only known in white nationalist circles, " said Heidi
Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

Since 2020, the song has been circulated on the messaging app Telegram
almost exclusively by accounts linked to far-right extremists, according to analysis by Open Measures, a research firm that specializes in online extremism.

With lyrics about replacement by foreigners, Beirich says the song is only popular in white nationalist spaces. "This is the kind of thing that I
can't find to be a mistake, " she said.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shoots pepper spray at a protester outside of the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
An ICE agent shoots pepper spray at a protester outside of the Bishop
Whipple Federal Building, Monday, Jan. 12, in Minneapolis. The agency has
been accused of racially profiling suspected immigrants and using excessive force. (Jen Golbeck/The Associated Press)
'Message received, ' say Proud Boys

ICE says it received around 220,000 applications during its recruitment
drive last year, and hired 12,000 new officers, more than doubling the size
of its force.

Beirich wonders how many of those applicants were drawn by the
controversial social media posts.

"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.
People are checked in during an ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, hiring fair Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
People check in during an ICE hiring fair in Arlington, Texas, in August
2025. Far-right groups like the Proud Boys have boosted ICE's recruitment memes: 'If you know, you know. ' (Julio Cortez/The Associated Press)

There have been no recent reports of extremists infiltrating the ranks of
ICE. But far-right groups have been responding favourably to the social
media recruitment campaign, recirculating the posts on their own social
media channels.

A Proud Boys chapter reposted the "We'll have our home again" ad next to a picture of a literal dog whistle, adding the line "message received. "

Another chapter also reposted the ad, commenting "Hahah. If you know, you know. "
'Attracting the wrong type'

DHS did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News. But when asked
by U. S. -based media about its social media posts, DHS has denied it was referring to white supremacist material.

A DHS spokesperson told The Associated Press that the "We'll Have Our Home Again" post was "a reference to 20-plus million illegal aliens invading the country. "
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House on Jan. 10 against the ICE
agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press)

Its outreach on social media is only one part of a vast recruitment
strategy by ICE.

The agency will spend $100 million US this year to target specific
demographic groups, according to the Washington Post.

That includes using geo-tagging technology to deliver recruitment ads to people who attend, among other things, UFC fights and gun shows.

ICE has already spent millions running TV ads aimed at recruiting
disgruntled law enforcement officers in sanctuary cities, which make public services available to undocumented immigrants.

"In sanctuary cities, you're ordered to stand down while dangerous illegals walk free, " the ads say, adding "Join ICE and help us catch the worst of
the worst. "

David Lapan, a government communications specialist who was a DHS
spokesperson during the first Trump administration, said the department appears to be trying to recruit applicants with a particular mindset.

Its messaging is appealing to people who "want to get rid of foreigners"
and "bust some heads, " Lapan said.

"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 that they have, " he said.

ICE is slated to receive $30 billion by 2029 to fund its deportation
efforts.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/ice-recruiting-9.7058294
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2