Government Messaging Echoes Extremist Rhetoric, Raising Alarms
A flurry of nationalistic videos released by the US Department of Homeland Security’s social media team last October sparked significant concern among experts tracking extremist movements. While many clips celebrated an imagined American golden age through themes of patriotism, consumerism, and military might, one particular video, titled “LIFE AFTER ALL CRIMINAL ALIENS ARE DEPORTED,” contained a subtle yet deeply troubling element.
Buried within the 50-second montage, which featured an American flag planted on the moon, fighter jets in formation, and a sprightly Donald Trump striding through New York City, was a fleeting image of a crescent moon wearing sunglasses, seated at a grand piano. To the uninitiated, this might have gone unnoticed. However, for those immersed in extremist online subcultures, the reference was unmistakable.
The ‘Moon Man’ Meme and White Supremacist Co-option
This cryptic imagery refers to “Moon man,” an internet meme that has been aggressively appropriated by white supremacist groups on fringe forums like 4chan. It was often paired with racist songs and swastikas, becoming another symbol in the growing arsenal of hate symbols, akin to Pepe the Frog, adopted by the alt-right.
Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, stated unequivocally that the inclusion of such symbols was unlikely to be accidental. “Some of the images have been flat-out white supremacist,” she asserted. “There’s just no question.” Ms. Beirich, who has been studying extremist online activity since the late 1990s, believes the content was deliberately targeted at a specific community that would understand the coded imagery. “I don’t see how this is anything but absolutely terrifying and completely irresponsible,” she added.
The timing of this video was particularly significant, coinciding with a critical moment in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had just announced an unprecedented hiring spree of thousands of new agents to conduct the largest deportation operation in US history, employing increasingly aggressive tactics, including scenes of federal agents rappelling onto apartment rooftops during immigration raids in Chicago.
Overt References to Far-Right Ideology
The instances of government channels referencing far-right extremism have become more overt since this initial incident. In January, the US Department of Labor posted an image on X (formerly Twitter) of Donald Trump saluting a stadium, accompanied by the words “TRUST THE PLAN.” This phrase is a foundational mantra of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which posits a secret plan to combat a supposed deep-state cabal.
Shortly thereafter, the Department of Labor shared another video featuring George Washington, the leader of the American Revolutionary War, with the caption: “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage.” Experts noted the striking similarity of this phrase to the Nazi-era slogan “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer” (“One People, One Realm, One Leader”), used by the Nazi Party to promote German unity under totalitarian rule.
The alarming trend extended to the White House’s official account, which posted to X with the caption “Which way, Greenland man?” Critics argued this language was purposefully lifted from William Gayley Simpson’s 1978 book “Which Way Western Man,” a text that promotes anti-Semitic and white supremacist ideology and is considered influential within extremist circles.
Recruitment Ads and Neo-Nazi Anthems
Adding to the growing unease, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a recruitment ad for ICE on X. The accompanying image and caption read: “WE’LL HAVE OUR HOME AGAIN,” depicting a figure on horseback with a fighter jet overhead. This phrase is also the title of a song by Pine Tree Riots, which Ms. Beirich identified as an anthem of neo-Nazi groups. The song’s lyrics include lines such as: “In our own towns, we’re foreigners now. Our names are spat and cursed…” This same post appeared on the DHS Instagram page with an excerpt of the song, which was later removed.
Further concerningly, another song by the same group appears to reference the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members clashed with protesters. The lyrics state: “Well, another Charlottesville wouldn’t do us any harm.”
While the DHS did not respond to direct questions from the ABC, a statement to the New York Times rejected suggestions of intentional extremist references, claiming any similarities were coincidental. “There are plenty of references to those words in books and poems,” a DHS spokeswoman told the Times. Ms. Beirich dismissed this as “ridiculous,” emphasizing that such specific imagery and references originate from a particular subculture involved in race hate, requiring prior knowledge of these movements to identify.
The DHS’s ICE recruitment ads, Ms. Beirich observed, resonated with extremist groups like The Proud Boys and Patriot Front, who actively shared them on platforms like Telegram. Both groups are designated as extremist due to their promotion of white nationalism, misogyny, and Islamophobia, and have a history of violence and intimidation.
Dan Tooze, a current member of The Proud Boys and Vice Chair of the Clackamas County Republican Party in Oregon, expressed interest in working for ICE, stating he would “do what I could, anything I could to help, like drive cars or prevent weirdo blue-haired lunatics from harassing them [ICE agents] or interfering with their duties.”
‘Death Cards’ Left by ICE Agents
In a separate, chilling incident in rural Colorado in January, families of 10 Latino workers discovered cards inside their vehicles after ICE agents detained the drivers during what immigrant advocates described as unlawful traffic stops. These cards, bearing the ace of spades, are known as “death cards” in some circles and were used during the Vietnam War as a tool of psychological warfare. White supremacist groups later adopted them to intimidate minority groups.
Local immigrant rights organisation Voces Unidas was contacted by the affected families and expressed shock that ICE agents appeared to be using these cards on migrants. Alex Sanchez, the group’s president and CEO, stated, “Leaving a racist death card behind after targeting Latino workers is deliberate intimidation rooted in a long history of racial violence.” The DHS condemned the incident and promised an investigation, though it did not respond to questions about its progress.
Local Democrats voiced their alarm in a letter to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, expressing concern about “racially-motivated intimidation tactics” and demanding an independent probe into ICE’s Denver Field Office. Noem did not respond to the letter.
Concerns Over Nominees and a ‘Militarised’ Agency
Concerns have also been raised about Trump’s nominees for senior roles within his administration, with critics describing some as holding racist beliefs. Jeremy Carl, Trump’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, faced scrutiny for his writings, which critics labelled as white supremacist. Carl’s book claimed white Americans were victims of “cultural genocide” and supported the conspiracy theory of white people being deliberately replaced by non-white immigrants.
Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s former pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel, withdrew his nomination after reports emerged of him allegedly sending racist text messages to a group chat, including the admission, “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it.” He was later appointed deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration.
“Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised to see both the Department of Labor and the Department Of Homeland Security pushing out racist imagery because these are the kinds of people who are working in those places,” Ms. Beirich concluded.
David Lapan, a former DHS spokesperson who served during Trump’s first administration, expressed grave concern over the agency’s shift in messaging. He noted that after John Kelly became Trump’s chief of staff, the White House became “much more aggressive in their communications,” leading him to resign in 2017. Lapan described the agency’s current messaging as “nationalistic, jingoistic, aggressive, and belligerent,” with an increasingly “militarised” tone. He stated, “They’ve used music, videos, memes and slogans, all that have connections to either WWII propaganda or extremism and white nationalism. This is different to anything I’ve ever seen in the time I’ve been in government service.”
Lapan also raised concerns about the speed of recruitment and a perceived drop in standards. He contrasted the current recruitment, which targets a younger demographic with a specific mindset and uses imagery from video games like Halo, with the rigorous vetting, including polygraphs and drug tests, and a five-month training program of his tenure. “It’s much more targeted at people who believe the homeland has been invaded by foreigners — very much an aggressive wartime type approach,” he explained.
These concerns were echoed by Ryan Schwank, a former ICE lawyer and training instructor who resigned and testified before Congress about a training program he described as “deficient, defective and broken.” Schwank alleged that fundamental constitutional law, use of force, and safe firearm handling had been cut from training, and new agents were encouraged to violate the constitution.
Training Slashed Amid Hiring Spree
The Trump administration set an ambitious goal of approximately one million deportations per year. Supported by $US75 billion in funding, the department underwent a significant hiring spree. By early January, ICE had received over 220,000 applications, resulting in an additional 12,000 ICE officers, more than doubling the total to 22,000. Lapan alleged that training periods were slashed from five months to as little as six weeks, and recruitment standards were lowered to expand the applicant pool. The department maintained that its officers are among the “world’s most skilled and experienced law enforcement… and undergo rigorous training and preparation before going out into the field.”
Congressional Democrats have been advocating for sweeping reforms to ICE operations, including requiring judicial warrants for home entries, mandating body cameras, and banning masks worn by officers during raids. These demands have led to a month-long shutdown of the department’s funding, with parties deadlocked on reforms.
Markwayne Mullin, Trump’s pick to replace Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary, has recently adopted a more conciliatory tone, signalling a willingness to require officers to obtain warrants from judges in most cases. This shift comes amid reports that the President told top advisers that the administration’s deportation policies had gone too far and directed his team to adopt a new approach.
Lapan, observing the recruitment efforts, sees no change in the department’s focus, stating, “The focus seems to be looking for people that want to engage in behaviour, like we’ve seen on the streets of Minneapolis and other places, that’s very aggressive and is more military‑like than law enforcement‑like.”
