ICE: How We Got Here (Part 2)

In part two of our look at ICE, we discuss the executive orders and funding that allowed it to reach what it is today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to stuff
I never told your production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
So we are back for part two of our look
at ICE and CBP and DHS looking at what has
been happening with Actually, we're going to do a little
comparative look at past administrations. Not here, not in this episode,
but coming up we'll be taking an all encompassing look
at ICE and CBP and talking about the events happening now.

(00:40):
But we do think it's important that we look at
the backgrounds. We do think it's important that we talk
about the policies that we need to talk about where
the root of this is coming from, and then what
it looks like is happening and things are ever changing.
We know this again because of that. We're going to
go ahead in time stamp this because some of the
stuff that we're talking about today actually came out today,

(01:01):
and that therefore we know by if you listen to
this like next week, it's gonna change. If you listen
to this in four years from now, you're probably gonna
be like, I'm crossing my fingers. Thank God, that's over.
I really hope that's what's gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna
speak that into.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Existence, hopefully younger generations please.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Anyway, and this is definitely gonna be one of those
that we are making a time capsule and keeping record
about what is happening today and the truth of what
is happening today, and we want to make sure that
we're doing it thoroughly. So this is why we're going
into part two, and we're gonna have another another part
and maybe another part.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Who knows.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
This is one of those moments where I'm like, it
just keeps going.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yes it does. But the time stamp and question is
that because you're.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Already bypassing because I'm so scared anyway, is February eleventh,
twenty twenty six. And yes, we're recording on the day
that it is being released because Christine know it's magical
and takes care of our editing so quickly.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
We appreciate you and your patients.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
But also with that content warrant warning, we are talking
current affairs, or they'll look at the discriminatory policies in
place today. I don't think we're going to get into
any actual examples, but mentions of death, disease, rape, sexual
assault and harassment and probably trauma, all the trauma. We
may have forgotten something else, you know. And again, if

(02:27):
it's not for this episode, it was for part one,
and it will be for the next two parts or
one part or five parts, who knows, because this is
a very sensitive subject. But there's your warning. There's a
lot here. There's a lot here, and it is bleak,
but no worries. At the very end of our parts,
when we come together and kind of have a conclusion,

(02:48):
we are going to end with some good news and
some of the amazing organizations that are working tirelessly to
provide the services we so desperately need, including the people
who are giving this information, who are doing their best
to keep track of what is happening and letting the
public know. So there you go, all right, take a

(03:08):
deep breath. Then let's jump into it. So we know,
immigration has always been a hot button issue, whether it's
to make money, whether it's to create a hierarchy or whatnot.
It is an issue, and we discussed it earlier. Go
back to listen to part one if you want to
to get the history of ICBP and DHS. But how

(03:31):
this administration isn't the first to do some drastic policy changes,
but so far they've been some of the most extreme
in its procedures and policies. So what are some of
these policies that the current administration has been using. First
and foremost the executive orders galore, Like you get an

(03:51):
executive order, and you get an executive order, and everybody's oppressed.
Let's go, in his first year of his term, Trump
has two hundred and twenty seven orders, way more than
Biden did in his entire four years, more than George
Bush Senior did in his entirety, and even more than
himself in his first term. So that's within the first year,

(04:15):
because y'all, we have three more years to go.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Hail. Okay, I'm breathing, it's fine.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
On his first day alone, he signed twenty six orders,
the most signed on the first day than the last
ten presidents. So if you go back and look at
the charts and all of the numbers, it kind of
goes all kinds of ways. One of the largest amount
of executive orders came from, oh, I don't know, World
War two, and that's justifiable. I feel like that makes

(04:46):
a lot more sense. But here he is really pushing
to break those records.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
It seems.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Anyway even and within these orders on day one ten,
more specifically in regards to immigration laws and policies, so
from the American Immigration Council, they write. On the first
day of his second term of office, President Donald Trump
issued ten executive orders and proclamations seeking to change the
face of US immigration law and policy, touching nearly every

(05:17):
aspect of a complex and exacting system. The Trump administration
has followed up the record of its first term and
the promises of its presidential campaign with an effort to
redefine America, to exclude everyone from border crossers seeking refuge
to children born next month, to parents who are in
the US on temporary visas.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
And they continue explaining quote, it is important to understand
not just the scope of the executive orders, but also
what precisely they aim to do and on what timescale.
The flurry of first day activity was itself a signal
to immigrant communities that they are under attack, but it
is also a blueprint for future actions. Policy changes heralded

(06:01):
in these executive actions take the form of instructions to
federal departments or agencies. Some of these were executed within
the first forty eight hours. Others will require further scrutiny
and guidance in the coming weeks and months, and will
be subjected to lawsuits challenging their implementation. So, for instance,

(06:23):
his executive orders included declaring an emergency at the US
Mexican border, ending birthright citizenship, and stopping most of the
refugee admissions. And none of this is a surprise, as
he ran on this promise to address the so called
issues of immigration right.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
And of course we're going to go into the garbage
that he uses about as illegal aliens invading and taking
away from US citizens was upstanding citizens who follow the law,
as all of them criminals, which is not true, which
we're going to get into part three because we know
this is a big fallacy, but it is also something

(07:04):
to remember again, like they said, there are a lot
of lawsuits happen, and it happened quickly. ACLU has been
one of the biggest ops for him in this timeframe,
and it's good to know that that they will continue
to do that and they have done so well, and
other judges and other people in this type of law
have fought him so hard that he's trying to take

(07:24):
apart the judicial system. That's what we've seen, but right
now they're working hard, just as a reminder in trying
to fight back. But unfortunately we're not there. We're not
there yet, y'all. We're gonna get to those good parts later,
but we're we're not not there yet. So in his
statement on the White House site, he writes this and said,
I mean, he is supposed to be from him, but

(07:45):
we know it's not from him, but just go on.
It's first person for him anyway. Moving on, many of
these aliens unlawfully within the United States present significant threats
to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous
acts against innocent Amamericans. Others are engaged in hostile activities,
including espionage, economic espionage, and preparations for terror related activities.

(08:08):
Many have abused the generosity of the American people, and
their presence in the United States has cost tax barriers
billions of dollars at the federal, state, and local levels.
Enforcing our nation's immigration law is critically important to the
national security and public safety of the United States. The
American people deserves a federal government that puts that their

(08:28):
interest first, and a government that understands its sacred obligation
to prioritize the safety, security, and financial and economic wellbeing
of Americans. To note, there's a lot of reports and
we again we're going to talk about this later, but
just as a reminder because I feel like hearing that,
I need to wash it away with some truths. We're
losing a lot of money from these detentions because a

(08:53):
big chunk of taxes come from those who pay taxes
but don't have any rights. So have the people who
are immigrants and who are working here do pay taxes,
which again we're going to note the fact that they
that's how they were found and located is by their
tax forms. But we're losing a big chunk of money
because they're being detained and withheld and we are spending

(09:15):
money on that, which they're not really spending that much
on them personally.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
But like this establishing of.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
Safety in which we're going to get into a bit
uh in this episode later, but yeah, we're losing a
lot of money. It's costing taxpayers more.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Just case we're confused, absolutely confused.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Right, Lets you build your big ballroom, man, I'm sure
my taxes.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Went. Let you go ahead and sue us for your mistakes.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, fine, and.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
Yeah, that's fine, no, fine, all right.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
Moving on, So his strategy with this type of and
barrage of executive orders, we're a part of his kind
of quote shotgun oblitz, which is what they called it.
That was written in in their Project twenty twenty five.
So this is from an ACLU article on Trump's take
on immigration. They write, Trump has promised to be far

(10:16):
more aggressive in a second term, emboldened by his close
advisors like Stephen Miller, to launch a shotgun oblets of
executive orders and actions that will target millions of immigrants
and their families and threaten the freedom and security of
everyone in the United States. Trump will unleash the vast
arsenal of federal powers to implement the most spectacular migration crackdown,

(10:37):
Miller told The New York Times in November twenty twenty three.
To fact, former senior Trump officials helped write Project twenty
twenty five, a detailed plan to overhaul federal agencies that
includes more than one hundred and seventy five immigration actions. Okay,
we'll have We've talked about doing an episode on Project

(10:58):
twenty twenty five, and honestly, we are really behind on
that conversation we are going to try to address it.
It just feels so heavy sometimes and so dense, and honestly,
I feel like we need to bring in an expert
to have a thorough conversation about Project twenty twenty five
and project esther.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, we definitely do. It's one of those things that
it's a hefty document, I mean, and there's a lot
of legal ease in there. And I know we had
a guest on recently ish and she was like, oh,
you've missed the deadline for talking about that, and I
was like, right, it's still happening, though.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
Like we need to still be aware because pretending like
it's not happening now doesn't mean yeah, it.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Can't be changed.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
But we did, we are behind. It's one of those
things that it feels so overwhelming that it's kind of like,
oh my god, we have to be experts on it
before we can talk about it, and then it becomes
time consuming. But anyway, it is something to note that
this is a part of the plan. This was a
part of the original beings, like they have been targeted
as the new evils that's coming to get us.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
You know, once upon a time it was England. I know.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Think about on like I was there.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
So the executive orders were only a small part but
did some big things, including Executive Order one four one
five nine, which allows for ICE to expand their detention
centers and capacities. We're going to talk about that with
the title protecting the American People against Invasion. So we
got to remember this is the language like invasion. It

(12:51):
literally sounds like we're being trampled upon, uh with knives
and guns.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Oh, definitely, like aliens are coming in to killers from
another planet.

Speaker 2 (13:01):
Yea, which is they love aliens, illegal aliens coming to
invade and take your.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
Children, sir, Yeah, no one wants your children.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
I'm good.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
So then there was EO or so I'm gonna go
ahead and call them EO right now because that's how
I've wrote that. So Thiseo also called for DHS an
Attorney General, to deny funding for sanctuary cities and any
other nonprofit that quote facilitate irregular migration. So this is again,
this is one of those linke at ones where they're

(13:36):
like they can choose, they can choose who they're talking about,
because Georgia actually has a sanctuary city, but they.

Speaker 3 (13:45):
Really want to keep it, you know, Kemp.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah, our governor and Georgia.

Speaker 3 (13:50):
Yeah, I have a lot of disting for that apparently.

Speaker 2 (13:53):
But yes, he is a pseudo heavy supporter, like he
waivers real hard and has no backbone, but he is
a yes guy to Trump from the most part. So
it's interesting to see what they will do here. Then
there was Executive Order one four one four eight, which

(14:13):
gives ICE more power and allows them to go to
once restricted places like schools and hospitals because we know
all the terrorists all go to middle school and elementary school,
right heiden as children.

Speaker 3 (14:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:29):
Of course these executive orders aren't the only things allowing
for the growth and overreach of ICE, CBP and DHS,
but it's something to note that this was all implemented
on day one of his administration. One of the most
controversial policies in place is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,
which was signed on July for twenty twenty five. So

(14:51):
either we're going to refer this to as OBBBA or
the Big Beautiful Bill.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
Just that's why.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
So this bill is an extensive bill that has several
parts to it, and trying to summarize it seems to
be a bit difficult because we know most bills and
acts have a lot of things in there in order
to try to rush everything, and especially like the hidden
things that you're like, wait, where did that come from?
Why is that included? This is one of those bills.
Because the IRIS has a whole section about this bill

(15:23):
trying to explain it for the tax portions, and some
of these tax portions seems wonderful. We have those who
endorse it from the White House pages, you know as
in like their official pages. It does include several tax
cuts and helps deductions for tips, overtime pay, auto loans,
and the Trump account. And if you don't know what
that is, it gives a very small amount to encourage

(15:45):
the growth of the birth rate in the United States.
It's like two hundred dollars extra in childcare childcare credit
tax credit. Also with the everybody was so excited about
that they're not going to tax the tips.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
That's wrong. They do.

Speaker 2 (16:01):
They do tax it. You have to make a certain
amount over the all like claiming d da da da.
There's so many things to this build that like it
sounded great until you look at the like details and like, oh,
it really doesn't help me. It only helps these people,
which there's a small group of people that it actually helps.
I did get to put my car interest rate onto

(16:23):
my tax form. That did help me, But at the
same time, I had to buy a new car, which
I didn't want to do for a very bloated price
because of tariffs yep an interest rates going up.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
So you know, it's like, is it really helping?

Speaker 2 (16:42):
And with all that, it also raises the debt ceiling
by five trillion dollars and somehow with all of these
tax rates and maybe again an increase tax credit for
children if you have if you have another one, here's
a two hundred dollar credit. You're welcome. It also cuts
Medicaid by twelve percent, and it cuts availability for snap

(17:06):
benefits once was referred like oftentimes referred to as food stamps.
And it gave a lot of money for both ICE
and CBP and DHS A lot of money. Exactly how
much and where's it going? A total of one hundred
and seventy billion dollars are being allotted for the anti

(17:26):
immigration policies and agencies again such as ICE and CBP.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
Yeah, from the National Immigration Law Center, this is the breakdown.
Thirty billion dollars to detain and deport immigrants quickly, forty
five billion dollars to build new immigrant detention facilities, forty
seven billion dollars to build more border walls and barriers,
sixteen billion dollars for increased border security with surveillance and technology,

(17:55):
fourteen billion dollars for state and local agencies to assist
in immigration enforcement, and twelve billion dollars for checkpoints, vehicles
and more agents.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
Annie, Speaking of surveillance, you know, Alena is one of
the most seville cities in the world. Yes, even like
up there with China, which is really mind blowing to me,
which is not a city, but you know what I mean,
even the cities of China. But there has been an
up increase of flock cameras with a company just placing

(18:26):
them wherever and then charging after they place them.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
It is an interesting tactic.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
But they are a part of the operations, reading tags
and trying to pinpoint people in locations. There's one pointed
at my house, Annie, really, and they told our neighbors
that this was to this was police trying to control speeding.
It is not, it is not. It is an absolute

(18:54):
flock camera. And I'm like oh my god, because you
and I have kind of joked that we may be
on lists because of what we do. But now I
have a full blown camera on my is directly pointing
at my house outside of just the streets by the way,
so just to note if something goes down, Okay, I

(19:17):
want to be here. I want to represent all the
people's and I am all about freedom of speech and
I have done nothing wrong or illegal.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
All right, it's a.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's on the podcast. I have many witnesses, including all
of our listeners. But yeah, we have a flat camera
which is one of those contracts that is under under
four ICE, and have been using all.

Speaker 3 (19:42):
Of the systems.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
But it's interesting and they even like I think they're
a billion dollar company if I understand correctly, they do
use solar so great.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
Interesting, it doesn't seem like they.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
Would now they have a really good system that like
holds battery power. I know that that was a long one,
but I just I just want that to be noted
because I was thinking about that the other day when
every time I passed it, I'm like, oh my god, Yeah,
and I don't like that at all, right, who does
not me? So again with that, they describe some of
the ways that they are spending this money, so they'd

(20:17):
say the following. The law gives some instructions for how
the money should be used, including fingerprinting and DNA analysis
for families arriving at the border, additional screening for people
coming to the US remain in Mexico. That's one of
the policies, which is a policy that forces migrants to
wait for their US court cases in Mexico. A human

(20:39):
rights catastrophe because literally they're trying to escape things, and
as ignored as they are, they're just placed in more
danger sending unaccompanised children back to their country without seeing
a judge, allowing state and local law enforcement to enforce
immigration laws, and paying them for participating in an immigration

(20:59):
enforcement allowing more deportations without seeing a judge, and using
secret evidence in some cases physical exams of children who
arrive at the US border without a parent or guardian,
detaining children with their parents while the parent is prosecuted
for illegal entry, creating the quote victim of Immigration's Crime

(21:20):
Engagement Office a political tool to scare immigrants. By the way,
none of this money is really going to any of
the departments that are supposed to help with the cases
they have. Yeah, just the note and for good measure,
the DOJ does their own thing with the money of

(21:41):
such as investigating immigration related offenses such as an authorized entry,
failure to register, and voting by non citizens, which by
the way, not many non citizens vote. If like they don't,
they're not playing that game. They're not trying to They're
trying to stay under the This is such a weird.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
Okay, I'm done. I'm already frustrated.

Speaker 2 (22:04):
Crime prevention programs, including the programs for immigrantion enforcement and deportation,
and they pay states and cities that put certain immigrants
in jail, so they're like, hey, if you put it,
if you put it an immigrant in jail, we'll give
you money.

Speaker 3 (22:19):
Super enticing, Yeah, super enticing.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
All of that. So NPR reported at the beginning of
this year that with this type of budget, which is
the highest ICE has ever had, as it was typically
sitting at like ten billion a year, that they are allotted,
which by the way, ten billion dollars is a.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
Lot of money. Yeah, a lot of money.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
And this is ICE, not CBP's different. This is specifically
two ICE, which again they have that and now they
can include the seventy five billion dollars. A supplement is
a supplement, love lile supplement that can be spent in
the next four years three now, because if we've already

(22:58):
got one year tripling their yearly budget. And they were
talking about how in comparison to like the FBI, the FBI, guess,
I believe one third of that and they actually do
like do domestic terrorists and investigations in that way, but
in terrorism, yeah, but whatever. So their goal is to

(23:23):
deport one million people each year and they need this
money to get more funds for detention centers and employees,
as we mentioned before.

Speaker 1 (23:33):
Yeah, And in fact, in one year alone they doubled
the amount of agents from ten thousand to twenty two thousand,
and according to DHS, have received two hundred and twenty
thousand applications in twenty twenty five. And yes, they're still hiring.
You can see our first episode where we talked about

(23:54):
the requirements.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
Right, and I will say, I'm going back and forth.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
We're reading.

Speaker 2 (23:59):
So there's so many reports y'all know this that two
hundred and twenty thousand could have been inflated by Christinome
and that is not as high as they are claiming
it to be.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, yeah, I mean they're definitely. Unfortunately, it is very
hard to get the actual immerge right now.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, and then that I will tell you, I will
say out a few times on different reports. It's hard
because they're doing this purposely in secret. There's also enticing
bonuses that the government's been outing and it has been
drawing some people in and not just those who want
to go around and gather up them illegals as they say,

(24:45):
which I've heard some people.

Speaker 3 (24:46):
Talk about, I'm a join.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
These are the people you definitely want to be in
law enforcement carrying a gun.

Speaker 3 (24:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
Anyway, moving on, so their salaries are ranging from fifty
one thousand to about fifty two thousand to about eighty
five thousand. Although as a former government worker, I will
tell you if you're not already in a government position,
you're going to be at the bottom. You're going to
get that fifty something thousand and maybe not even that
to be honest, but you're definitely not.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
Going to be able to negotiate higher. You never can.
That's not a thing.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
Unless again you have you've already been inside of the
agency or you or you're being brought over obviously, if
you're a higher up, you don't got to wory about that.
So and then if with that, there's a possibility of
getting that fifty thousand bonus dollars over the course of

(25:39):
five years, y'all, and you have to commit to those
five years, and after taxing.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
It's not that much.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
About six thousand a year. Congratulations. I hope your soul
was worth it. And then there's also an ability to
get sixty thousand dollars in student loan repayments. But as
you heard from the qualifications, not.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
A lot of people will go to college.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
Yeah, that's not a requirement, so that might not be
as that's why you don't know about that. I did
not hear about that as an added benefit when I
was when I've been hearing all these you know, things
and hot headlines about bonuses and trying to attract people.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
So I think that's purposeful.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
And if you want to know what type of people
may be applying, well, is that we're talking about. NPR
interviewed a few people at a DHS career expo, and
I thought it was interesting because they actually speak to individuals.
So if you want to go take a look at
that it's just like MPR goes to DHS ICE job fair.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
You can go check that out.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
And some of the people that they interviewed included avid
Trump supporters. They were like, I'm really excited about what
this government's doing. I want to be a part of it.
There's veterans who miss being able to simply follow orders,
like they literally say, I just want to do a
job where they tell me what to do. And then
you have recently laid off DHS employees, because there's a

(27:14):
quite a bit of them, they're like, I might as
well go back this way. And some were just again
looking at those bonuses, really thinking that fifty thousand dollars
was just going to be handed to them immediately with
no like taxing.

Speaker 3 (27:26):
I don't think that was right.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Interestingly, several people who would often respond that they did
bill some of the things that were happening with ICE
agents were a bit too far, Like they were all
a little concerned. It's like, yeah, I don't really like that.
Oh it does seem kind of wrong, but you know what, Hey,
it's a job.

Speaker 4 (27:43):
Yeah, there's those.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
Like they knew where they were in history, but they
justified it.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
Yeah. I have long said there's some kind of element
of i'll call it cosplay that is happening right here. Yeah,
where they think they're being kind of heroic and you
can play the role in their heads.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
Oh, we're going to talk about it is it's a
definitely strategy.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
Something that isn't that shocking is the fact that the
training and overall quality of the candidates for the job
may be very low in overall standards, which I think
a lot of us have seen those headlines. In fact,
the training time for ice was cut from sixteen weeks
to just eight weeks, and things like basic Spanish skills

(28:35):
have been cut completely, which seems like nonsense.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
Right, Like that was a part of the requirements because
they understood a big chunk of the immigrants and refugees
were Spanish speaking people. Interesting again, with that sixteen to
eight weeks is terrifying because as a person who worked
at the Department of Junial Justice a state level, that
had nothing to do with arresting powers. I had nothing
to do with going out and like investigating anything. We

(29:00):
had nine week course training and that had nothing to
do with firearms. We had nothing to do And that
came later and that was another twelve weeks, another twelve weeks. Yeah,
so sixteen weeks to eight weeks including firearms is alarming
because you don't need that experience to start. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:21):
No, that's that's very tell thing that they're just like,
come on, put.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
You through, go for it.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
It's good luck man, enjoy. So they have also gotten
rid of age limits, which should be noted. I think
could be seen as DEI.

Speaker 3 (29:40):
Am I wrong?

Speaker 2 (29:41):
I don't think so. Anyway, The overall push in hiring
as many people as possible seems to be the biggest goal,
and it's all about that volume, using whatever is necessary,
including a barrage of as being used in all.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
Of the platforms.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
So any you had talked about this, we wouldn't kind
of dig into it because they.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
There was a lot of good articles about this.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
So from the DW which is a news source in Germany,
they write this. Where ICE's recent approach differs is in
the scale intensity of the media push, with unusually high
budget advertising campaigns and broad public outreach aimed at generating
large applicant pools. Hamilton, a professor of law and criminal
justice at the University of Surrey, actually said this.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
As she was being interviewed.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
The media and social media push, which uses recruitment tools
that lean heavily on key Trump messaging, has proved controversial.
That also includes featuring Uncle Sam. You know, like when
we were trying to enlist as many people in the
military during the World Wars. Yeah, Uncle Sam got in
part of this, a personified symbol of the US government

(30:44):
most notoriously used to recruit soldiers during World War One
on the Ice Careers web page and posting the painting
American Progress often critici size for showing white settlers traveling
towards their manifest destiny while Native Americas retreat from VA.
It's on official social media pages they're using this, and
I think if you I'm sure many of you listeners

(31:07):
already know of the many different symbols being used, and
some of them seem to be reverting back to some
white supremacist context.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
Including the former head advice in DHS. But I digress.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
Apparently, the cost of these advertisements are around one hundred
million dollars for this year and is considered quote a
wartime recruitment drive. Again, that verbiage of invasion, war impending
doom is being used here and again we're going to
jump into have of their cosplay level of like I'm
a hero. According to a Washington Post article published in

(31:49):
December of twenty twenty five, which shared a strategy document
that was given to immigrant officials, they're using even more
as and influences to hit their large goal of recruitments.
So they were able to get a hold of some
memos and some tactics that the DHS is using and
they publish it. This is twenty twenty five, so before

(32:09):
everything has gone downhill. So from their article they write
the document reported here for the first time reveals new
details about the vast scale of the recruitment effort and
its unconventional strategy to flood the market with millions of
dollars in spending for Snapchat ads, influencers, and live streamers
on Rumble, a video platform popular with conservatives. Under the strategy,

(32:32):
ice would also use an ad industry technique known as
geofencing to send ads to the phone, web browsers, and
social media fees of anyone who set foot near military bases,
NASCAR races, college campuses, or gun and trade shows.

Speaker 3 (32:47):
I feel like that NASCAR was.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
So yeah, that's very specific.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
Very specific with this narrative like answer the call to serve.
It is clear they're push for loyalists to fill a
call to duty. In fact, with the money from.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
The OBBBA, they have hired.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
Marketing firms to use precise data and targets for their.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
Ads, right and using old school tactics to bring in
old school loyalists, like the usage of Uncle Sam and
fear mongering. That that's been some of the things that
they've been doing. From the same article quote recruitment ads
have proliferated across TV, radio, print, and podcast, directing viewers

(33:34):
to an ICE hiring website that portrays immigration as an
existential threat. America has been invaded by criminals and predators,
reads the website, which includes an image of Uncle Sam.
We need you to get them out, which, by the way,
you I tried to report this ad on YouTube. Yeah,

(34:00):
it's it's actually pretty difficult to report an add on YouTube.
And I think it's specifically it's it's difficult because I
think they specifically have it that it the length of
it is very short. So like by the time you've
been like.

Speaker 3 (34:19):
Oh, they say I'm in the radar that way.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
Yeah, it's like already over by the and you, I
don't want to go look up. Let me watch this
ICE ad.

Speaker 3 (34:28):
Right, you're not trying to do it, right.

Speaker 1 (34:31):
But by the time it's over, I can't report it.
You have to report it kind of when you see it. Yeah,
but yes I have. I've been trying to do your duty.

Speaker 2 (34:45):
I like it. I like it. So they go on
to talk about how they've been using things like video
games and movies to seem as if ICE is fighting
a criminal underground and are coming out as heroes again,
as if it was a game or a fantasy quote.
On social media, administration accounts have mixed immigration rate footage
with memes from action movies and video games to portray

(35:07):
ICE's mission as fight against the enemies at the gates,
want to deport illegals with your absolute boys. One post says,
are you going to cowboy up? Or are you just
or just lay there and bleed? Says another. So again,
it is very like going after a specific demographic, and
as we talked about from the NPR article about the

(35:29):
people who are applying for ICE, that as are working,
they're targeting conservative people, veterans, and those who may have
military backgrounds or military interests. I mean again that cosplay
level of like wanting to be a part of it.
The document literally says people who are interested in quote
conservative thought leaders, gun rights organizations, and tactical gear brands

(35:50):
like that's who they're targeting. That's what they wrote and
something to watch out for. Though as of today, I
can't see I don't know of any specific influencers, but
we need to look out for those because they were
named and those who created the document are leading into
the power of influencers. Again from the Washington Post report,
they write the document did not name specific influencers, but

(36:13):
said it would focus on quote former agents, veterans, and
pro ice creators who would be expected to host live streams,
attend events, and post short and long form videos and
other content to Facebook, Instagram, rumble x, and YouTube blogs,
substack newsletters, and threads. Accounts would also be targeted for
more niche communities, the document said. So I think that's

(36:37):
something we need to look out for. I have like, again,
my FYP may be completely different, but I would think
if a creator comes out with some usage, we would
see that, like someone else would be talking about them
or calling them out. I haven't seen it yet. I
feel like at this point it might be too late
to use that because if you do that, you're going
to be on like a lot of bad lists. Yeah

(37:00):
culture though it's not a real thing. If it was,
I think it might actually work for this type of
especially small influencers or up and coming influencers that could
be wrong. And this is to humanize a ice agents
and their work. I feel like we can say at
this moment it isn't working again, but maybe not. Things

(37:20):
may change because this is again they're putting a lot
of money behind it. They understood how bad things are
looking in by trying to bring in peer to peer
approach and some storytelling, they're hoping to get some goodwill
and a lot more recruits, acceptable recruits without the because
we already again we already seen people like yeah, we
don't love it, so that could push further people further away,

(37:42):
we don't know. And they've been using specific locations for
their targeted ads, hoping to get a lot of recruits
from hot spots like Minneapolis and Chicago and other major
cities like New York and Los Angeles who are on
lists to have more and more facilities as well as
they're thinking of taking their tactics that they use in Minneapolis,
in Chicago to New York and LA like they're threatening

(38:05):
it right now. So they're also using large job fairs
and expos as well. Again that's not untypical. A lot
of government agencies do this and trying to ket recruit.
The largest local target was noted to be in New Orleans,
which is currently again holding one of the larger immigration
detention centers, so that makes sense. But they're using events. Again,

(38:27):
we kind of talked about NASCAR before, but they're actually
using events such as the NASCAR Cookout Southern five hundred
in South Carolina, Like they got a booth ready, the
UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, and a sponsorship in
the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, so you will
see them in booths there.

Speaker 3 (38:44):
If you go to those things. I will not be
one to those things obviously.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
No, even if I did like them, Nope, and how
interested them?

Speaker 1 (38:53):
No? Thanks. Well, they're also not just recruiting, they are
targeting specific communities with a message to self deport from
the Washington Post quote. The ad library for Meta, which
runs Facebook and Instagram, shows that DHS has spent more
than one million dollars on self deportation ads in the

(39:17):
last ninety days targeted to people interested in Latin music,
Spanish as a second language, and Mexican cuisine. On a
message board for the music streaming service Pandora, some users
were furious about the ads that they called fear mongering propaganda.
One user, who said she is a US citizen who
likes listening to reggaeton, said that she had been overwhelmed

(39:40):
by DHS commercials quote implying I am an undocumented immigrant
and instructing me to go home. That played in nearly
every other ad slot I.

Speaker 3 (39:51):
Hear, which is an interesting tactic.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
Yeah, that's one way to put it.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
Like, hey, I'm glad you enjoyed this music. To get
out right, clearly they're like wait what. And it has
been noted that so far, although it's only February, they
have not spent the allotted amount they have set aside
for more ads and targeting. Again, I think we may
see some influencers who will be hosting lives with either

(40:19):
ICE officers or sharing heartwarming stories to humanize them as
a part of their campaign, and we'll be able to
see which companies are playing it safe with the current administration,
meaning all the ads and people that bring on and
who they sponsor. Also side note platforms like Spotify and
Pandora run as that are not always brought to you
by us. We have not vetted them.

Speaker 3 (40:41):
I just wander to this.

Speaker 2 (40:42):
Yes, if you hear one of them on our podcast,
please let us know immediately. You need to go ahead
and understand and assume we did not approve that in
any way, shape or form. No.

Speaker 1 (40:53):
In fact, we very emphatically send a message that said,
do not ever play an ICE ad on our podcast,
and so if they do, let us know.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
I mean, I'm gonna put this here, even though I'm
like trying to stay a little like report and give
information unbiasedly. But we as a person in groups, guys,
all right, Yeah, And if that wasn't enough money, and

(41:29):
I know, we just talked about ads, but we also
talked about how much money they're getting on so many
other things, and we'll probably talk a little bit about that.
But they're also looking to get another eleven billion dollars
on top of the already eighty five million, which is
four times their regular amount, and it seems they're looking
for more money to expand or at least include more

(41:50):
detention centers. Honestly, I'm kind of good confused about this situation,
because why don't you already have enough money. I know
there's there, you haven't spent it. Why do you need
eleven billion dollars eleven more billion dollars?

Speaker 3 (42:04):
But whatever.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
At the same time, it's hard to run a for
profit private center that gives minimal care and provide barely
enough necessities for basic human rights, I guess and survival.
You gotta get that money somehow. I mean, there's some
fishy money slide of hand that we've been talking about.
Christy Nolmes has been accused of a few things recently,

(42:29):
so I mean whatever. Yes, they are buying up properties
all over the country without any accountability. Currently, contracts all
around the country have been have people reeling like people
are now seeing them like that. Here in Georgia actually, uh,
not too far outside of Atlanta, in a small conservative
area known as a Social Circle, DHS Purchase has purchased

(42:52):
a warehouse looking to make a new detention center, which,
by the way, we have a few, we have several.
We don't want those. And even when the Trump voters
there are upset like most of them.

Speaker 3 (43:04):
Is interesting.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
They have with the mayor of the town come together
to speak out on their concerns of this type of
facility in their backyards. So yes, we know they are
selfishly concerned about the impact on them more than the
people being detained, so that's not surprise and that should
be noted. At the same time, they're still upset, so

(43:26):
you know, sure a wins the win, I guess. Some
have commented that they are worried at what this will
do to their resources. More have actually said that watching
how bad ICE has been acting in other states, have
no concern for their people's safety and don't like how
people are being treated by the agents, So some of
them are realizing, eh, we don't like the looks of this.

(43:49):
I will say. There is an office opening in Atlanta,
but they are putting it in a predominantly black area
known as Each Point, which is interesting. There have been
so many jokes made about coming to Atlanta, but honestly,
I'm scared put it there. It has even brought both
conservative and liberals together to protests against the possibility of

(44:12):
this new detention center, and has caught the attention of
state officials, including our own representatives John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock,
which I would hope they would be concerned, but they are.
They're speaking out. But the conservatives too hardcore Trump supporter
Mike Collins, who is running for something. I can't remember

(44:32):
if a senator or governor. He's running for something, but whatever,
who has been a pro Ice. He's been pro Trump
all of a sudden, has come about with a little
bit of a hesitation on the new facility, saying that
he supports the constituents in their displeasure and really things
that we need to go back to the table and
have a conversation about whether or not this should be here.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
I found that interesting.

Speaker 2 (44:54):
And Georgia isn't the only spot. Again, there's a lot
happening on many popping up left right. As more and
more facilities are being planned under the radar, residents are
upset and at not being notified or being a part
of the conversation at all. So Wired dot com have
been watching ICE closely, like they have a whole tracking
that they're trying to publish, So you know, I had

(45:16):
to get that information and CBP and one of the
things that they are reporting right now is about the
fast tracking of these detention centers.

Speaker 3 (45:26):
Again.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
This article they wrote, which is titled ICE is expanding
across the US at breakneck speed. Here's where it's going next.
And this was released today, So February eleventh, twenty twenty six,
this article just popped up and I was like, yeah,
I guess we're going to get into this. So federal
records obtained by WIREDS show that over the past several months,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE and the Department of Homeland

(45:48):
Security have carried out a secret campaign to expand ICE's
physical presence across the US. Documents show that more than
one hundred and fifty leases and office expansions have or
would place new facilities in nearly every state, many of
them in or just outside of the country's largest metropolitan areas.
In many cases, these facilities, which are to be used

(46:11):
by street level agents and ICE attorneyes, are located near
elementary schools, medical offices, places of worship, and other sensitive locations. Reminder,
one of the executive orders allows for arrests at places
like this where we wasn't allowed before. So there are
a lot of concerns with how the administration is going

(46:32):
forward in these purchases, many emails and memorandums where DHS
actually ignore government procedures in the name of national security.
With that they bypass other acts and policies to get
these facilities, stating, quote, the need for supplies or services
is of such unusual and compelling urgency that the government

(46:52):
would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to
limit the number of sources from which its solicits, bids,
or proposals. Full and open competitions need not be provided.
So essentially they're bypassing the opening for bidders to have
different contracts and to be more fair and open about
that and being able to choose whoever they want and

(47:13):
doing it quickly. And they have. They've already picked out
two contractors who are doing this very quickly. Oh and
it's all about securing space. This is nothing to make
it inhabitable. There's no renovation conversations. They're not talking about
like actually making livable. They just want to get that
space immediately. This justification was used throughout to get nationwide

(47:35):
acquisition and did so in order to achieve the goals
of detention for the record breaking number of immigrants. So
they already had that one million that they wanted within.

Speaker 3 (47:44):
The first year.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
They're trying to build on that. I think it was
like one point six million. As it continues, and we'll
tell you this, the numbers are not clear. Their numbers
fluctuate a lot, and they are not telling us everything.

Speaker 3 (47:58):
Including people dying and people going missing.

Speaker 2 (48:03):
So we're gonna talk about that later. And they focused
on a few key stakes, including Texas, which has the
largest amount of facilities. One of the largest facilities they
have acquired is an El Paso which just recently, like today,
you know, yesterday had a ten day closure for the
El Paso International Airport, but it's already been lifted. I

(48:24):
think because it came out, everybody started reporting very quickly,
like what is happening. The people of El Paso were
coming like we're scared. We don't know what's going on.
At this time, no real reason was given, but was
told something about the Mexican cartel breaching with drones, which
feels like a red herring to be honest. Yeah, as

(48:44):
with everything else when it comes to the immigration policies.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
M yeah, well, currently there doesn't seem to be a
statistic to show how many immigration detention facilities there are.
According to Freedom for Immigration dot com org, they estimate
at least two thousand facilities being used, but this is
including countries outside of the US, so.

Speaker 2 (49:07):
That's not just yeah, so there doesn't seem to be numbers.
People are kind of giving like ideals, especially as more
and more facilities are being bought out and we're trying
to figure out where they are, and because it's being
done privately with through private organizations, we're not getting much information.
American Immigration Council dot org they do say this that

(49:30):
they at the end of the November twenty twenty five
there was a ninety one percent increase of facilities for
immigration detentions, so they know that there's a giant jump
of the amount of centers there are. So from Trade
Supports dot org they report as of January twenty twenty six,
there was seventy seven hundred and sixty six people who
are being detained by ICE or CBP currently. Again, this

(49:52):
is a very specific number, but I think it's changing
very quickly. And from what I gathered, I fineled like
two months earlier there were twenty thousand less than that,
so it was I fifty thousand something something, So it
is growing quickly and as of today, again, this will
quickly change as they're in the process of negotiating, because
I don't know if you realize, I didn't realize until

(50:13):
I read it that we had a shutdown, a government
shut down for like a split second in regards with
that eleven billion dollar edition. Everything else was approved, so everything,
all the other different departments had an increase in funds
or had approve of funds. They stopped at the DHS
one because they're like, wait, what are we doing. The

(50:35):
politicians have figured out that people are upset, are really
getting upset, and it is becoming a unified thing where
everybody's getting upset with what's happening with DHS and ICE.
So they feel like they have a moment to negotiate.
So right now they're in that process. The Democrats are
seeking to negotiate again with these funds. I think they
are approving it for a certain amount of days because

(50:56):
this is supposed to be approved for a year to
four years. They're like, no, we're going to give you
a weeks with a little bit of money, but we
need to come back and have a conversation. But the
problem is they're not negotiating for the amount or the
money or even the usage of money. They're pretty much
just asking ICE and CBP and DHS to be nice
to follow the law literally, is what they're negotiating. If

(51:20):
you can't, you can have this money to get more
attention centers, but can you just at least follow the
law and stop breaking them some of them? Okay, I'm
trying not to be mad, but again, some of the
things that they are listed in their negotiations are required
to not allow for masks so that we can actually

(51:41):
see if they're ICE or not and who they are
because they don't even have to do that. They're asking
for body cams, which is a sensitive subject because there's
back and forth about what this is actually doing, who
this is actually helping, and is this what is the solution.

Speaker 3 (51:57):
I'm going to say no, and to.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
Also stop profiling, which to be fair, the Supreme Court
of that's cool, man, you can do.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
That if you want.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
So, I guess you know that's legal and just basic
stuff essentially is what they're requesting at this point. Again,
as of right now, unless something has changed in the
last hour since we've been recording, we don't know what's
going to happen. I guess minimally at least they're addressing

(52:29):
some things, but yeah, overall, the government is disappointing on
every will. Yeah, yeah, we're gonna come back with some
better stuff. Well but actually, let me be honest, We're
gonna come back with some worse stuff and then follow
up with some better stuff. In this conversation, but again,
I think it's really important in what we are looking at,

(52:52):
what is being funded, who is responsible for some of
these things. Also to note that we need to keep
an eye on the de tension centers that are happening,
that are being done quietly. The l PASO stuff, Like
I think I did not get into it much, but
there's some concerning conversations in that one alone, and I
think we need to have a lot of awareness and

(53:15):
conversations again about about these places and what is what
they're giving up for.

Speaker 4 (53:23):
Yeah, yeah, yes, well there will be a part three,
maybe a Valentines Hay, Gallantines and Valentines.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
And Lunar New Year and Marti Gras, Oh lord, but yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:48):
We'll we'll get through this together.

Speaker 1 (53:51):
We will, And we would love to hear from you listeners,
if you have any resources or thoughts or if you're
in any of these areas that we're talking about, please
let us know. You could email us at Hello at
Stufffannever Told You dot com. You can find us on
Blue sky Mo Stuff Podcast or on Instagram and TikTok
at stuff Never Told You. We're also on YouTube. We

(54:14):
have some merchandise at Cotton Bureau, and we have a
book you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks
as always too our super produce Christina, our secutive produce Maya,
and our contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you
for listening Stuff Never Told You, just production by Heart Radio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can check
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