ICE's Multi-Million Dollar Campaign Spoofed and Chal...

By Dan Gooding

Politics Reporter

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Two new anti-ICE advertising campaigns are appearing on streaming services, as tensions mount over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

While one ad is a spoof on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recruitment efforts with millions of dollars behind it, another includes the story of a U.S. veteran who was detained by federal agents for three days in the summer.

“My driver’s side window shatters. An agent sticks his arm through and pepper sprays me in the face. They drag me out of the car. They throw me on the ground. They zip tie my hands behind my back,” George Retes, a U.S. citizen, said in the video from Home Of The Brave.

“Had they just looked at my ID, they would have seen that I’m a US citizen, that I’m a veteran… What’s happening right now isn’t right. We’ve got to get accountability. [What happened to me] doesn’t define who we are as Americans.”

Why It Matters

The Trump administration has been actively recruiting thousands of new ICE agents in recent months, with ads promoting the roles coming under criticism for their messaging and quantity. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said it is delivering on the promises made by the president during his 2024 election campaign—to deport millions of illegal immigrants and increase national security.

What To Know

Retes’ story is told as part of a $250,000 campaign being promoted by Home of the Brave, a new initiative criticizing the actions of the Trump administration, including its immigration enforcement efforts.

While just a fraction of the roughly $51 million media budget for DHS this year, the group said Wednesday that it hoped its ad would reach Americans with a different message—that the current enforcement efforts are having adverse consequences.

Retes was arrested by federal agents in Southern California in July, after they arrived at a farm in Camarillo where he worked as a security guard. The Ventura City native served in the U.S. Army for four years.

After his release, Retes spoke out about the conditions in ICE detention, prompting pushback from DHS, which claimed he had become violent during the operation, which saw dozens of others arrested.

Now his story is being pushed at users of streaming platforms who have already seen ads from ICE and DHS, encouraging immigrants without legal status to self-deport, and seeking out Americans who want to join ICE as agents.

Those ads, which began appearing more frequently over the summer, prompted backlash in October from those using Spotify, one of the platforms carrying DHS’s ad spots. Users vowed to boycott the streaming service, despite the ads running across other providers, too.

In response to the ads, a second anti-ICE campaign has begun from left-leaning campaign group MoveOn Civic Action, spoofing the ads aimed at encouraging American patriots to apply for roles.

“Do you feel good about tear-gassing kids? Shooting pastors? Or kidnapping grandmas? Then you have exactly what Donald Trump is looking for!” the ad, which will run on Spotify and YouTube.

The ad pulls images from news reports of ICE raids, including alleged illegal immigrants being tear-gassed, restrained, and detained. Agents have been repeatedly accused of being too aggressive when carrying out operations, but DHS has insisted that protestors and immigrants have become violent, escalating the situation.

Spotify confirmed to Newsweek that the ad was running on its platform, while pointing out that it was also appearing on other sites, including across Meta’s portfolio.

What People Are Saying

MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich, in a press release: “By selling ICE ad space, Spotify condones its abuse of power and its violent agenda against immigrants. It’s not too late for Spotify to start listening to its user base and stop bending the knee to the Trump administration.”

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in a statement to Newsweek: "What a shoddy ad job. We’ll put aside the embarrassing cinematography, script writing and effects, this dump of an advertisement is another lazy attack from an irrelevant activist group.

“These officers put their lives on the line every day to arrest the worst of the worst including murderers, pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and terrorists. They should be celebrated and revered. To most Americans our brave ICE law enforcement are heroes, which is why ICE received more than 200,000 applications from patriotic Americans who want to help make America safe and see through these pathetic attacks."

Home of the Brave, in its press release: “Our ad campaign is a direct response to the administration’s $51 million propaganda blitz that’s being funded by the American taxpayers in order to recruit ICE agents who will do Trump’s bidding.”

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What’s Next

The ads have only just gone live, making it difficult to track their impact on audiences so far, but both groups hope that more Americans will back them in seeking to hold ICE to account. The Trump administration, meanwhile, appears resolute in continuing with its current strategy to recruit agents and detain large numbers of alleged illegal immigrants, with the aim of deportation.

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