The Trump administration is spending millions on ads aimed at recruiting new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The ads are so widespread that TV viewers and social media users alike see them everywhere, including on YouTube, Spotify and LinkedIn.
In a recent advertisement that’s LinkedIna stern-looking Uncle Sam points to the viewer. The message reads: “Join ICE today” along with the note “$50,000 signing bonus” at the bottom. Similarly, a 30-second TV spot that originally aired during the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards broadcast in September has been spotted nationally in the months since. “You took an oath to protect and serve, to keep your family and your city safe,” the narrator says in the promo. “But in sanctuary cities you are ordered to retreat while dangerous illegals roam free.”
It’s hard to say what sets certain cities apart, but the call to action specifically targeted Albuquerque, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Sacramento, Seattle and Washington, DC. Most recently, the ads ran in Atlanta, Dallas, Miami and Salt Lake City, as well as San Antonio, Houston and El Paso, Texas, according to AP News.
The ads are part of those from the Trump administration $30 billion initiative to hire 10,000 additional ICE agents by the end of the year. This is evident from data from Equis, acquired by Rolling stonethe Department of Homeland Security has spent millions to reach more and more Americans. DHS has spent about $2.8 million since March to run ads on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. Since August, the agency has paid Meta another $500,000 to run recruitment ads. The DHS also spent $3 million on ads on Google and YouTube in Spanish, instructing people to deport themselves. Ads also ran on Spotify and Pandora, but Equis did not have data on how much DHS spent on those ads.
Even during the government shutdown, spending has not stopped or slowed down. According to NewsweekDHS reportedly continued to throw money at ICE’s recruitment efforts while leaving millions of workers without pay. During the three-week shutdown, ICE spent approximately $4.5 million on paid media. “Millions of people are at risk of losing their food stamps and on the verge of going hungry as a result of this government shutdown,” Natalia Campos Vargas, deputy director of research at Equis, told Newsweek at the time. “But somehow the Trump administration, DHS and ICE are choosing to spend millions of dollars on advertising campaigns. That just feels inherently wrong to me as a taxpayer.”
As ICE has stepped up recruitment efforts, the backlash is gaining momentum. On December 11 Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was grilled by lawmakers about alleged unlawful deportations of American citizens, including military veterans. Noem was confronted with people who were allegedly deported by the agency. The secretary left the meeting early and left in a hurry when getting out.
Meanwhile, anti-ICE ads have also emerged that combat the pro-deportation narrative. In one advertisement from Home of the BraveArmy veteran George Retes, a U.S. citizen, tells the story of his ICE kidnapping.
“My driver’s side window breaks. A cop puts his arm through it and pepper sprays me in the face. They drag me out of the car. They throw me on the ground. They tie my hands behind my back,” Retes says in the video, which is broadcast nationally on streaming platforms. “If they had just looked at my ID, they would have seen that I am an American citizen, that I am a veteran… What is happening now is not right.”
While many users may be uncomfortable with the increase in ICE advertisements online, the organizations running these advertisements appear undeterred. A Spotify spokesperson told Fast Company that the ad is “part of a broader, well-documented U.S. government campaign running across multiple platforms, including television, streaming and online channels.”
The spokesperson added that users can manage their ad preferences. “Spotify is an open platform that supports a wide range of voices and perspectives, even those that some people may not personally agree with. That’s why we believe listener control is key to that balance and allows users to like or dislike specific ads and update their ad preferences, including opting out of certain categories, like government.”
While there has been a wave of calls for Spotify users to boycott the platform over the ICE ads and over founder Daniel Ek’s investment in Helsing, a German defense company, the platform says there has been “no material impact in terms of cancellations.”
Fast Company reached out to LinkedIn and YouTube about running ICE recruitment ads, but did not hear back at time of publication.
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