TIS THE SEASON

ICE Barbie’s Xmas Deportation Memes Immediately Backfire

The AI-generated social media posts had some critics wondering if they were made by prepubescent trolls.

The Department of Homeland Security has sparked a furious backlash after posting holiday-themed deportation memes.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 54, boasted that federal agents were stepping up removals “for the holidays,” with a “holiday deal” offering a free flight and $1,000 to those who self-deport.

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Her social media team leaned into the holiday-themed messaging, with one X post featuring an AI-generated image of federal agents in Santa hats posing near Christmas lights with the caption, “YOU’RE GOING HO HO HOME.”

DHS also circulated a spoof gif of President Donald Trump in a Santa hat steering a sleigh full of presents through the snow, continuing a months-long strategy of blending internet culture with law enforcement messaging that has triggered legal threats over intellectual property use.

Backlash to the posts came from the worlds of both politics and religion. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office replied with scripture—“I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35)—a line from Jesus’ teaching on final judgment that exhorts believers to welcome and care for outsiders as though serving Christ himself.

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Faith-based groups said the mash-up of Christmas cheer and deportation crossed a line. “It’s deeply troubling to see AI-generated images paired with a Christmas message to advance anti-immigrant rhetoric,” Jeremy Weitz of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network told Axios, calling the approach “antithetical” to Advent and Christmas.

The memes also left some former DHS personnel feeling disgusted, as the outlet quoted former DHS official Andrea Flores saying, “What is actually happening…when they’re publishing memes instead of critical information?”

On X, Atlantic writer McKay Coppins wrote that government accounts shouldn’t post like they’re “run by 13-year-old trolls.” A labor meme account retorted, “YOU’RE GOING TO HE HE HELL,” while political commentator Leslie Marshall warned of “karma” for “inexperienced soldiers.”

Noem—dubbed “ICE Barbie” over her penchant for photo-ops—has drawn sustained criticism for theatrical border content and marketing-forward tactics.

She and Trump, 79, have framed the push as targeting “the worst of the worst.”

But critics say the holiday campaign trivializes a policy with life-and-death consequences. “The Christmas season is a time when we honor the Holy Family, who themselves were migrants seeking safety,” Weitz said.

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DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin brushed off the criticism, telling the Daily Beast: “DHS will continue using every tool at its disposal to keep the American people informed as our agents work to Make America Safe Again.”

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Tom LatchemLead Global Correspondent

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