The Trump administration’s ICE branch possesses substantial funding and is pushing to incorporate more officers into its undercover groups. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is saturating social media with recruitment advertisements, aggressively targeting local news channels in designated sanctuary cities, and promoting substantial hiring incentives (reaching up to $50,000 over three years) along with student loan assistance programs (amounting to $60,000). They’re aiming to broadcast their need for new personnel.
ICE isn’t the singular contentious body requiring recruitment. The police force needs to hire, correctional facility staff needs to enlist members, and the armed forces are perpetually seeking to fill their ranks. Yet, currently, ICE may be the most polemic and disliked of the collective. Furthermore, the message conveyed by ICE in these promotional materials diverges considerably from what’s found in modern military enrollment drives.
Military recruitment ads often highlight a personal development narrative: They suggest dormant promise within you that the military will unleash, transforming you into a paragon of valor. Enlisting in the military signifies serving America, certainly, but it’s equally about personal advancement, amplified within the scope of the American dream. The US affords the opportunity to attain greatness, with the military imparting the necessary resources and structure to manifest this potential. This notion fuels the iconic army catchphrase, “Be all you can be.”
ICE commercials are undertaking a distinct approach. The subsequent narrative details how ICE depicts both the US and its organization, attempting to draw interest from more than 10,000 prospective hires prior to the year’s conclusion.
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The pinnacle of America occurred during your (millennial) childhood, an era we pledge to reinstate
The majority of ICE’s promotional ads appear to have originated from prompting an AI platform with the phrase, “WWII era retro aesthetics.” They prominently feature a wartime color scheme reminiscent of the 1940s, replete with simplistic, stalwart men and elegant, strong-featured women, along with an imposing depiction of Uncle Sam.
This vintage stylistic choice supports the cultivating of nostalgia that the advertisements typically utilize, alongside appeals to “reclaim the America that your forefathers originated.” Occasionally, the implication exceeds the notion that America existed in a state of greatness during an uncertain historical period, suggesting its prime existed specifically during your childhood, a time of simple pleasures and maternal care.
An ICE promotional piece invites viewers to “recover our national identity” and is superimposed over a static image depicting a 1992 Apache helicopter soaring over a NASCAR event, reflecting the early memories of millennials in their thirties, the target demographic for recruitment. Here, “national identity” is redefined beyond merely roaring machinery to uniquely encompass the experiences of those raised in the 1990s. Joining ICE, the advertisement hints, promises a return to the innocence and purity of childhood.
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At present, America faces invasion, transforming this cause into a sacred mission
What catalysts have caused America to stray from the glorious path witnessed in your youth? And how do you factor into the rectification of this crisis?
In ICE’s narrative, recruits are cast into the role of a champion, yet they circumvent the traditional hero’s metamorphosis, as observed in military contexts. Their strength, apparently, is preexistent. (Perhaps this explains the truncated training regimen?) The crux of the advertisement’s message centers on how America has undergone significant modification— besieged by adversaries, necessitating the recruit’s intervention for protection. Echoing this theme, ICE’s recruitment motto reads, “Defend the homeland.”
“Which way, American man?” postulates a caption, seemingly borrowing from internet meme culture, originating itself from a text espousing white nationalist sentiments titled Which Way Western Man?. While the meme enjoys contemporary popularity, the reference book dating back to 1978, propagates a claim of a Jewish conspiracy directed at Christians, asserting that Adolf Hitler acted rightfully. Illustrated to accompany the ICE promotional, Uncle Sam, in disarray, gazes at a series of signposts indicating “homeland,” “law & order,” juxtaposed against “invasion” and, strikingly, “cultural decline.”
With “cultural decline” boldly stated, ICE dispels any doubt as to the targets of its assertion of invasion. It functions as a dog-whistle amongst right-wing adherents, inferring the inundation of American culture by immigrants who retain their own cultural identities. The narrative implies the deterioration of Western Civilization rooted in classical Greece and Renaissance Europe, undermined through the merging of foreign cultures. The presence of diverse cultures, blending, conversely, has historically ignited artistic innovation and enrichment.
In this spirit, these advertisements heavily incorporate neoclassical symbols, envisioning America as an Athena-like figure swathed in classical robes, pledging to defend “humanity and civilization.” Civilization, in this context, pertains particularly to Western and Christian principles. “Safeguard our sacred land,” implores an ad positioned over a scenic image of a New England church tower.
In an official recruitment video, Micah Bock, serving as the deputy assistant secretary within the US Department of Homeland Security, articulates, “We know what it entails to be an American. The identity of an American is known by all.” Further articulating, he denotes that upon joining ICE, prospective agents will be armed to “obstruct communists, terrorists, and globalists diluting our culture and importing their unworkable ideologies.”
“Bar criminal illegal aliens,” declares an advertising piece positioned above a snapshot depicting shadowy-looking brown individuals, with one adorned in a turban. In an X post, a question is posed: “Aim to keep ‘Jihad’ outside of America?” Another post specifies that Latinos are also an issue, stating, “The American populace gave us a directive to purge our country from external invaders,” showcased over an image containing a vibrant car overflowing with Latino occupants waving flags from diverse Latin American nations.
ICE as an organization caters only to real men
ICE commercials portray the agency as a stronghold for the hyper-masculine and exceedingly capable man, where women fulfill a role as a dependent figure requiring protection, or a trophy to be claimed.
One ad features an ICE agent illustrated as a muscled, bare-chested Caucasian male, grinning as he prevents “communists, terrorists, and globalists” from gaining entry into the United States. America, frequently personified, is portrayed as a vulnerable female requiring preservation. Other ads display officers equipped in full combat gear, encircling a pretty woman who admiringly looks upwards towards them. Finally, another ad focuses explicitly on a sizable automobile, questioning what else could denote manliness.
It could be ICE’s intent to foster an environment specifically for robust, big-car-buying, Christian, white men. Such individuals may represent the agency’s key target demographic. Regardless, extant data provides a contrasting perspective on the agency’s marketing slant.
ICE rarely discloses internal demographic statistics. Yet, as of 2017, approximately 20 percent of its agents identified as Hispanic or Latino. In 2018, women constituted 45 percent of ICE’s overall personnel. In the meantime, considering a basic wage commencing at $50,000, new hires will likely struggle to manage the acquisition of an extravagant $40,000 vehicle.
Here lies your opportunity to debase anyone that displeases you
During Trump’s presidency, the DHS communications division has routinely displayed a jeering, sadistic tone in its outreach. Although its most revolting depictions are directed toward migrants, warning them against border crossings, a discernable tone within ICE’s recruitment material insinuates that one of the job’s compensations involves resorting to aggression and degradation against individuals perceived negatively.
Most notable, the targets extend beyond solely brown individuals, encompassing liberal activists, i.e. those self-important elites deemed deserving of humbling. One X thread integrates the URL “join.ice.gov” imposed atop several photographs depicting handcuffed activists, accompanied by the tagline “FAFO,” denoting “fuck around, find out.”
An accompanying post, reading, “We’re having an All Night Revival,” displays a video montage featuring masked ICE officers embroiled in activities resembling street warfare with featureless adversaries, ultimately triumphing within the smoke produced by flash-bangs, escorting handcuffed brown subjects into various vehicles. Select individuals are shirtless, resembling those whom Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem positioned in her CECOT presentation. ICE agents, meanwhile, have been enhanced with combat gear veiling their appearances, rendering them as larger-than-life action figures, surpassing human portrayal.
Identity erodes in this depiction. The narrative downplays individual agency, accentuating the grander conflict between good and evil.
The underlying message remains twofold: Nothing is serious, even though, by nature, everything is critical.
ICE commercials showcase an astounding amount of guardedness, implying preemptive notions such as: don’t take the matter seriously, for it is only a humorous gesture. In what alternate form is an individual poised to construe the message, as an illustration of the Statue of Liberty illuminated with laser-emitting crimson orbs?
The “if provoked, you were deceived” stance epitomizes a strategy perfected by the alt-right movement in the years preceding the commencement of the initial Trump administration, wherein sardonic racism masked the implementation of neo-Nazi dogma into a broader range of internet territories. “The degree of humor and coarseness baffles the masses,” as confessed by a prominent neo-Nazi figure. Despite his acknowledgement, he also argued, “The movement’s true essence…embodies ideals and convictions,” the relevant ideals relating back to neo-Nazi philosophy.
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As the earlier proponents of the alt-right culture infiltrate the federal apparatus under Trump’s second term, consequently losing the “alt” distinction, conventional Republicans have begun assimilating their sarcastic and often offensive meme rhetoric – frequently found within channels like 8chan – into the fundamental aesthetics of the right. Predominantly, that includes the Norman Rockwell style depicting classic Americana; American flags flapping above a quintessential blonde household sharing a pie, accompanied by a distant bald eagle. This imagery, which hovers on the cusp of parody, is burdened by something akin to insincere devoutness. It recalls the visual lexicon of Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, economic downturns, and endless skirmishes. Nevertheless, it holds to the potential of something better. It’s a multifaceted depiction, melding easily with the chuckling nihilism prevalent in alt-right circles.
Combining these two established aesthetics culminates in one wherein every nuance may conceivably function as a deplorable prank, and as such, every element carries gravity simultaneously. When large-scale deportations are pledged, why express astonishment? You didn’t construe that claim literally, did you? When these mass deportations are enacted, why exhibit shock? Did you forget the advance warning?
Source: vox.com
