ICE, DHS recruiting messages appeal to white supremacists

ICE posters are sent out on social media with messages that might appeal to White supremacists.

You see the federal agents, masked, bullet-proof vests, sometimes in uniform, sometimes wearing street clothes, refusing to show identification and usually without judicial warrants.

If you're a person of color, you can be detained for no other reason other than you look suspicious. You can thank the worst Supreme Court in US history for making racial profiling legal.

From the perspective of the average person, their actions resemble a kidnapping. If you object, they turn their attention to you, sometimes pushing objectors tot he ground.

And the vast majority of the unidentified agents are white.

I'm sure that after a while, the agents grow tired of being the "bad guys," -- performing detentions that are probably illegal and acting like bullies.

No wonder there is a high turnover rate.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE are on a desperate hiring spree, trying to reel in 10,000 new agents by the end of the year. If you're jobless or stuck in a low-paying job and you blame immigrants for your status. ICE incentives could be appealing. The carrot ICE offers includes a $50,000 signing bonus and student loan repayment

But they're also using the stick of what many are calling white nationalist propaganda to get the word out, and it's raising a lot of eyebrows.

Now, I'm just a writer here at the Edge, trying to make sense of things. But when you start seeing posts on social media that use slogans like "Which way, American man?", it's hard to ignore.

As critics like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) point out, that phrase is tied to some pretty nasty stuff. They're using coded language and imagery that glorifies the past, with white settlers pushing Native Americans into the shadows. And if you're in the know, you'll catch the other coded messages, like capitalizing "Heritage" and "Homeland". It's a dog whistle, pure and simple.

And they're not just casting a wide net; they're dropping their standards to fill the ranks. They're hiring impressionable 18-year-olds and shortening training. What could go wrong, right?

But it gets worse. This isn't just a recruitment issue. This is about a pattern of behavior. You've got an ICE prosecutor in Dallas who was running a racist, anti-immigrant social media account. And remember that detention center captain in Nevada with the neo-Nazi ties? He was an ICE contractor. These aren't just one-offs; they're symptoms of a systemic problem.

With the passage of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” ICE is now the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the government. What is it doing with all that cash? Well, on July 29, DHS’s website and social media accounts launched a Nazi-style propaganda campaign, featuring a familiar, albeit unsettling, image of Uncle Sam with the message: “America Needs You.”

A DHS press release about the recruitment campaign used the title "DHS Launches 'Defend the Homeland'...".

This phrasing has been criticized for reinforcing fear-based and anti-immigrant narratives.

One recruitment poster featured a white, Norman Rockwell-style Uncle Sam at a crossroads with various directional signs. In the modified cartoon, the signs include phrases like “INVASION,” “CULTURAL DECLINE,” and “HOMELAND”. This echoes the so-called "displacement theory," white nationalist fears about the supposed loss of white American culture.

Groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC are calling this what it is: propaganda. 

"We are alarmed by ICE and DHS’s failure to remove and disavow white supremacist content from their platforms," posted AAJC on social media.

"ICE’s use of the phrases “Which way, American man?”, "invasion" and "cultural decline" — tied to known white nationalism — is not policy, it’s propaganda. Dog whistles like this fuels extremism and endanger communities."

"Even more disturbing is ICE’s use of masked agents and unmarked vehicles, including rental moving trucks, to conduct raids in communities," says AAJC. "These tactics mirror those used by extremist groups like the Proud Boys and evoke a long, painful history of racialized hate against Asian, Black and Latin communities.

And what's the official response? Crickets. Or worse, a dismissive brush-off. When Newsweek asked about the "Which way, American man?" post, an assistant DHS secretary shot back with a sarcastic "Where are we quoting a white supremacist?". It's the classic stonewall.

But here's the bottom line: when a government agency starts using the language and symbols of hate groups, it's not a mistake. It's a message. And the message is loud and clear: they're not just recruiting agents; they're courting extremists. And that's something we all need to be concerned about.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

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George Floyd's death solidifying AAPI support for justice and #BlackLivesMatter

The presence of former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao, a Hmng American, during the arrest and death of George Floyd, a black man, has raised a social media storm of commentary on the social media website.

As his fellow officers were holding Floyd to the ground, with former officer Derek Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck, Thao stood between the officers and the crowd of onlookers, some of whom were recording Floyd's dying breathes and pleading for the officers to let up from the ground.

The Minnesota event has forced AAPI organizations and individuals to admit to the little discussed anti-Black bias that exists within some elements of the AAPI community.

“George Floyd’s cries of ‘I can’t breathe’ parallel the words of Eric Garner, who was killed by police in 2014. As George Floyd lay struggling to breathe, Officer Tou Thao had the opportunity and the authority to stop the situation. It is unconscionable that he chose to do nothing,” said John C. Yang, Advancing Justice | AAJC’s President and Executive Director.

“We are in a time where doing anything while Black garners unwanted attention and unnecessary law enforcement interaction – and too often death," said Yang. "We are also in a time where being Asian Americans means being harassed, attacked, and blamed for COVID-19. As many Asian Americans are speaking out about this hate, we must also show up for the African American community.”

“Racism and discrimination are experienced by every African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American in this country. We must act against this violence and assault on our communities. It has always been time for racial solidarity, but we need to come together now more than ever.”

Author Louis Leung wrote a commentary for published in Asian Articulations:

"Let’s get this out of the way: Tou Thao is a despicable human being. M.P.D. Badge #7162 has a history of excessive brutality and a settled out-of-court case for $25,000," wrote Leung. "He’s the Asian cop in the infamous George Floyd murder video and his immoral professional choices should absolutely be condemned. The defend-Asians-no-matter-what crowd is wrong here; put the tribalism aside and sit this one out.

In his essay, novelist Leung brought up the "Anti-blackness," that threads its way through the AAPI community. "Yes, the A word. The Asian community hates hearing it. The Asian community can’t make up it’s mind to define it — is bringing awareness of black violence to innocent Asians “anti-blackness”? Is not letting our daughters date black men “anti-blackness”? Is serving black customers in our restaurants and nail salons while whispering negative presumptions about them “anti-blackness”? The answer is, well, that’s really not up for us to decide. We decide anti-Asianness, not anti-blackness.

"Please believe me when I say the Tou Thao is not a representation of us; he is the worst, the bottom 5%. The blatant killing of so many innocent black men is abhorrent to our society; being black in America should not be a death sentence. It can’t be swept under a rug of whataboutisms. Blaming Asians is a waste of valuable energy. It’s too bad the wrong Asian was in the right place to stop a crime at the right time," Leung concludes.

RELATED: A manifesto for AAPI ...

The Japanese American Citizens League sent a letter to Minneapolis Police Dept. strongly condemning the actions of the four police officers involved in Floyd's death and aligned the civil rights organization with the call for equal justice for Black Americans:

The Asian Minnesotans Against Racism and Xenophobia Collaborative an open letter published in their website.

The number of organizations signing onto this letter continues to grow. Click here for the complete letter and the updated list.

In addition, the controversial topic went viral in the twitterverse. Floyd's death at the hands of the police incensed rapper and filmmaker Ruby Ibarra and moved her to post a series of tweets :

Here's a sampling of the tweets calling for justice for George Floyd and #BlaciLivesMatter:

Asian American groups begin tracking coronavirus-inspired hate crimes

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

ASAM NEWS

Responding to the alarming rise in hate crimes against Asian people tied to the coronavirus outbreak, several Asian American groups have announced the creation of websites for individuals to document incidents of discrimination and speak out collectively against hate.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) , a partner of Communities Against Hate, announced its website Thursday..

Also, in California, Chinese for Affirmative Action, the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council(A3PCON), and the San Francisco State Asians American Studies Department announced the groups have joined together to open a reporting center of hate crimes.

“First and foremost, we want community members to know they are not alone; they can speak out and help stop the spread of bigotry. Secondly, the collected data will allow us to assess the extent and magnitude of these incidents and to develop strategic interventions,“ said Cynthia Choi, the Co-Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action.

Personal stories of people subjected to bigotry and hate as a result of the coronavirus outbreak are encouraged.

“We are currently providing support to a child who had to go to the emergency room after he was assaulted and accused by bullies of having the coronavirus, and so that tells us we may need to work with schools to address shunning and school bullying but we need to know how widespread it is,” says Manjusha Kulkarni, the Executive Director of A3PCON.

According to AAJC, submitting a report of discrimination is intended to help the efforts of AAJC and other advocates to monitor hate crimes and spread awareness about the rise in xenophobia impacting marginalized communities.

“By sharing what you experienced or witnessed, you can educate the public, empower others, show service providers where help is needed, and strengthen advocacy efforts for hate crimes response and prevention” reads the website.

Documenting a hate crime through the new website does not report the incident directly to law enforcement. If individuals wish to seek assistance from legal authorities, AAJC advises the AAPI community to contact local law enforcement to report a crime or file a complaint.

“Statements by elected officials, such as President Trump labeling COVID-19as the “Chinese virus,” fuel xenophobia,” said Russell Jeung, Chair of the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State. “In our research on news articles, we see that following inflammatory comments, there’s an increase of racist incidents against Asian Americans. Clearly, with such political framing, Asians of different ethnicities are being racially profiled as a foreign threat.”