Recently, ads for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may have been popping up on your TV.
The purpose of these ads is to recruit police officers to leave their jobs and join ICE. The ads are playing all over the US but are specifically screening in Colorado as Denver is considered to be a sanctuary city. Sanctuary cities, or sanctuary areas, are cities, counties, or regions that the Trump Administration considers to be obstructing federal immigration laws and crackdowns. Other notable Sanctuary cities include Los Angeles, CA, and Chicago, IL.
The ad specific to Denver, CO begins by stating its target audience as Denver’s police officers, (more broadly, the format of the ad addresses police officers in whatever area the ad is screening in). It acknowledges the police officers’ oath, but then quickly deviates, saying, “In sanctuary cities, you’ve been ordered to stand down while dangerous illegals walk free,” implying that local governments in sanctuary areas are preventing police officers from cracking down on federal immigration policies. The ad then invites officers to join ICE, saying that they can help catch “the worst of the worst.” The promotion also boasts a $50,000 signing bonus and student loan forgiveness.
Several aspects of the advertisement are concerning. First, the ad is racist. It suggests that all illegal immigrants are criminals, and not only criminals, but the “worst of the worst” criminals. This assertion is simply not true. According to a report from CBS, the Denver Contract Detention Facility (DCDF) held 3,533 immigrants between January and June. Classifying the worst crimes as homicide, robbery, sexual assault, larceny, and crimes relating to dangerous drugs, only 7.6% of immigrants incarcerated in the Denver Contract Detention Facility can be considered “the worst of the worst.” An analysis of ICE data shows that of these 3,533 immigrants, just 9% (312) had convictions for violent crimes. Many more immigrants (about 29%) had no charges or convictions, but rather just civil charges for crossing the border illegally.
Another concern is the apparent abundance of financial resources that ICE has. The ability to run this ad during major television broadcasts in major cities requires a large amount of funding. ICE seems to have no trouble paying for this, as well as providing student loan forgiveness and a $50,000 signing bonus. According to CBS, there are no specific figures available for the cost of the advertisement campaign. However, it can be inferred that they are very high.
The most important thing for the concerned citizen to realize is that the best reaction is to simply have awareness. Obviously, one person isn’t going to convince the government to stop running an ad. However, if people take action and share their concerns with others, groups of frustrated citizens can create change.
