'It's a war': Inside ICE's media machine

"Across thousands of internal ICE messages reviewed by The Washington Post, this kind of celebration has become commonplace. The messages show how the team has worked closely with the White House, which has urged them to produce videos for social media of immigrant arrests and confrontations to portray its push for mass deportation as critical to protecting the American way of life."

"Before officials could post the Houston video, they had to figure out how to frame it. Officials did not know if all the arrestees had criminal records, they wrote in the chats, undermining a slogan the team had worked to promote on social media: that ICE targeted the "Worst of the Worst." After some discussion, the team decided on a compromise."

Internal ICE messages show a public affairs team producing flashy, viral-oriented videos of arrests and tactical operations while coordinating with the White House to amplify deportation messaging. Officials struggled to frame a Houston arrest video when arrestees' criminal histories were uncertain, shifting the caption to warn about "illegal aliens ... behind the wheel." The team selected a rap track reportedly used without permission and posted the video to ICE social channels, where it surpassed one million views. The public affairs unit shifted from routine press work to an influencer-style media machine urged to "flood the airwaves" with brash content.

Read at The Washington Post