The White House was criticized for sharing an image to rebrand ICE agents as "NICE" agents, including a poster of an agent kneeling next to a child that has been condemned as blatant propaganda.
The decision came after President Donald Trump shared a post from a supporter urging him to change the name of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to National Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which would change the acronym from ICE to NICE. Trump said in a post on Truth Social it would be a "GREAT IDEA!!!"
The White House has leaned into that suggestion, sharing an image of a "NICE" agent standing next to a child with the caption "NICE AGENTS: Defending Our Country," and adding:
"ICE [arrow symbol] NICE AGENTS. 'National Immigration and Customs Enforcement.' DO IT!"
You can see the post and the graphic below.
@WhiteHouse/X
This didn't go over well, considering the chief role ICE agents have played in tearing apart families and trampling on human rights, arresting and detaining citizens and non-citizens alike, throughout the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
The agency's actions in Minneapolis are particularly shameful; the image of a "NICE" agent next to a child lies in stark contrast to how ICE agents treated 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. Ramos and his father were abducted by ICE agents on their way home from preschool in the Minneapolis area in January.
The family’s lawyer said Ramos and his family are originally from Ecuador and presented themselves to border officers in Texas in December 2024 to apply for asylum. He stressed they "are not illegal aliens" and that "they came legally, and are pursuing a legal pathway.”
Ramos' case horrified the country when a school district superintendent said "another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let them take care of the small child, but was refused." Instead, an agent “led him to the door and directed him to knock on the door, asking to be let in, in order to see if anyone else was home—essentially using a 5-year-old as bait."
Then there's the matter of the two Americans who were killed in Minneapolis by ICE agents.
Just weeks prior, ICE agent Jonathan Ross killed Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good in her car. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed Good “weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.”
However, witnesses described seeing Good in the vehicle trying to flee officers when she was shot.
The agency found itself at the center of another scandal that kicked off nationwide protests after analysis of multiple videos showed ICE officers removing a handgun from Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti—a weapon that authorities said Pretti was permitted to carry but was not handling at the time—before fatally shooting him.
Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials claimed Pretti had brandished a weapon and that agents fired “defensive shots,” assertions that have been contradicted by video evidence showing Pretti holding a phone and not brandishing a gun.
The Trump administration has tried to convince the public not to believe what they see with their own eyes, prompting critics to call out the hypocrisy of officials who've previously praised armed right-wing protesters but continue to criticize Pretti, a legal gun owner with a valid Minnesota concealed-carry permit at the time of his killing.
Many have condemned the Trump administration's propaganda.
As of this writing, a panel of judges on the New York-based United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has rejected a Trump administration policy that sought to place many immigrants—including some who have lived in the U.S. for years—into mandatory ICE detention without bond.
In striking it down, the court described the policy as “the broadest mass-detention-without-bond mandate” in U.S. history for millions of noncitizens, warning that its implementation would overwhelm detention facilities, separate families, and cause widespread disruption across immigrant communities.
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