ICE is spending millions to use influencers as recruitment tools

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is spending millions to turn the chronically online into deportation agents, according to internal communications reviewed exclusively by the Washington Post.

The agency's $100 million marketing strategy, detailed in a 30-page document distributed to ICE officials this summer, includes a massive push to flood the digital market with geo-targeted and content-based advertising. The plan even names specific platforms, like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Substack, and Rumble, a popular "alt-tech" video platform frequented by conservatives.

Recruitment advertisements under this plan would specifically target users whose devices ping near military bases, NASCAR races, UFC fights, college campuses, or gun and trade shows, as well as listeners of "patriotic" podcasts, country music, fitness, and true crime. A significant portion of the strategy hinges on getting influencers, commentators, and live streamers on board to boost ICE's message, with $8 million allocated to a new influencer program, Washington Post reported. Online creators accepted into the program would receive around $1,500 for joining.

While analysis shows the agency has yet to reach its $100 million advertising goal, many have already noticed the aggressive push into online and entertainment spaces, including television and streaming ads, social media campaigns, and celebrity endorsements. In October, many Spotify users boycotted the app for hosting ICE recruitment slogans, as well as CEO Daniel Ek's financial ties to companies developing AI technology for the military.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the Washington Post that the agency was “thrilled" about coverage of the "wildly successful ICE recruitment campaign, which is under budget and ahead of schedule.” She did not dispute the information presented in the document.

Officials and citizens have raised alarm bells over ICE's traditional advertising methods, too, including public campaigns and propaganda efforts that many say are stoking unnecessary fear within communities.

Under the Trump administration, federal immigration officials have pivoted to extreme, high-risk tactics to meet deportation aims set by the president, including periodically violent operations in areas far from the border. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino has said the unprecedented actions of ICE agents are a new "turn and burn" strategy that sees agents deploying tactics normally reserved for major offenders on families and individuals who haven't been suspected of violent offenses.

ICE is reportedly set to sign on tens of thousands of new agents in the coming months as a result of its "surge hiring marketing strategy," incentivized by major signing bonuses and inflated salaries allocated from Trump's Big Beautiful Bill. The agency has also reduced requirements for new hires. DHS reported that it received over 200,000 job applications in the last five months alone, with McLaughlin stating the vast majority are former law enforcement.

Former officials say the scale of raids and countrywide recruitment is unlike anything the country has seen before, according to a report in the Idaho Statesman.