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Personnel with at least two agencies assisting immigration officials with arrests across the U.S. have been instructed to be camera-ready and clearly wear their agency’s logo in case they’re filmed, according to CNN.
This instruction, reported by CNN and attributed to multiple sources familiar with the policy, comes as President Donald Trump’s administration quickly ramps up its wide-ranging immigration crackdown, which includes mass deportations and arrests across the U.S.
CNN also reports that federal agencies are posting seemingly made-for-TV photos and videos across social media, depicting federal agents with vests that read “Police ICE” and “Homeland Security” detaining people.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a video of herself wearing a vest with “ICE” prominently on the front.
“Here in New York City this morning, we are getting the dirtbags off these streets,” the former South Dakota governor said, using the phrase “dirt bag” in the video’s caption as well.
The post garnered some 30,000 likes and 4,800 re-shares. Noem was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 59-34 last week.
Immigration officials have even invited major media personalities to join their operations. Dr. Phil McGraw, better known as the TV psychologist Dr. Phil, “embedded” with an ICE team in Chicago over the weekend.
McGraw joined Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, acting deputy U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove and along with several agencies including the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.
McGraw’s attempts to extract an admission from a suspect rounded up by authorities was roundly condemned by civil rights groups.
“If they think that kind of thing is going to lend credibility … that will be a mistake,” according to Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy at the ACLU of Illinois told The Independent.
“The spectacle of large-scale arrests was more of a made-for-TV “stunt” than “any kind of meaningful type of immigration enforcement.”
Chicago-area residents saw immigration officials and unmarked black trucks appear in their neighborhoods early on Sunday morning, The Independent previously reported.
“They took our neighbor’s dad,” Melissa, a Chicago resident, told the Chicago Tribune. “My parents were crying. We are terrified.”
Melissa said her own parents hid in their attic as agents arrived.
“I was scared for my neighbors,” resident Michelle Vallet, who witnessed agents walking through her neighborhood, told the Tribune. “I was scared for this nation, knowing that this is going to be common now.”
The Trump administration began launching raids across the country last week, including in Newark, Miami, Maryland and Colorado. The agency reported their officials arrested 286 people on Saturday and 956 people on Sunday in operations across the country.
Trump has also taken several other steps to implement his hardline immigration agenda, including attempting to end birthright citizenship despite its place in the Constitution.
