If you’re a lover of all things firearms related—and face it, who among the TTAG faithful isn’t—you might just be getting a recruitment advertisement over social media soon. And don’t be surprised if it comes by way of the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to a not-so-flattering Washington Post report, ICE is planning to spend $100 million over the next year to recruit “gun rights supporters and military enthusiasts” through online influencers and geo-targeted advertising campaigns.
“The spending would help President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation agenda dominate media networks and recruitment channels, including through ads targeting people who have attended UFC fights, listened to patriotic podcasts, or shown an interest in guns and tactical gear,” the Post reported, citing an internal ICE document.
In passing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill last July, Congress tripled ICE’s enforcement and deportation budget to about $30 billion, prompting a hiring spree that officials say is necessary to carry out the Trump administration’s promise of the biggest mass deportation in American history. According to the Post, administration officials set a goal of 1 million deportations within the first year of Trump’s term.
The bulk of the Post story explains how the Trump Administration is going about recruiting the wrong way and, consequently, recruiting the wrong people for the job.
“ICE recruitment ads, the plan said, would be shown to people with an interest in ‘military and veterans’ affairs,’ ‘physical training,’ or ‘conservative news and politics,’ and would target people whose lifestyles are ‘patriotic’ or ‘conservative-leaning,’” the story lamented. “The strategy said to target listeners of conservative radio shows, country music, and podcasts related to patriotism, men’s interests and true crime, as well as any accounts that resemble users with an interest in ‘conservative thought leaders, gun rights organizations [and] tactical gear brands,’ the document said.”
ICE’s immediate plan calls for hiring about 14,000 new Enforcement and Removal Operations officers, Homeland Security Investigations agents, ICE lawyers and support staff.
Of course, the Post trotted out “experts” to say how bad the ICE advertising campaign is. After all, some of the ads include imagery of George Washington, the Statue of Liberty and evil old Uncle Sam, himself.
Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, a deputy director at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington think tank, said ICE’s ads harked back to World War I recruitment posters by using symbols like Uncle Sam, the Post reported. It then quoted Banulescu-Bogdan:
“We’ve never seen immigration agencies kind of strip down the policy debates to this level of raw imagery and symbolism.”
The story was also critical of upcoming ICE hiring events, which are planned for events that the Post apparently finds unsavory.
“The strategy has also called for boosting recruitment at major gatherings and sporting events, including a booth at the NASCAR Cook Out Southern 500 in South Carolina in August; a ‘gym-based recruitment’ event with ‘influencer-style content’ at the UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas in November; and a planned sponsorship devoted to ‘patriotism, strength [and] grit’ at the National Finals Rodeo this month in Las Vegas,” the report stated.
Ultimately, the Post and many liberals might not like the fact that President Trump and his administration are enforcing current immigration laws for the first time in many years. But if the administration is going to accomplish its goals, it needs additional personnel. Who better to answer the call than lawful gun owners!
