The vintage look helps these ads cultivate the nostalgic vibe they frequently turn to, alongside frequent calls to “recapture the America your forefathers created.” Sometimes, however, the implication is not just that America was great at some point in the hazy past, but that it was greatest specifically during your childhood, when your life was uncomplicated and your mother cooked your breakfast. It saves its most appalling imagery for the posts it directs at migrants, warning them against entering the country, but a strong undercurrent to its ICE recruitment ads suggests that one of the perks of the job is getting to be violent and to humiliate the people you don’t like. The “if you get offended you fell for it” posture is one that the alt-right perfected in the years leading up to the first Trump administration, when they used ironic racism as a cover to inject neo-Nazi ideology into more mainstream corners of the internet.
Author: Constance Grady
Published at: 2025-10-14 21:59:48
Still want to read the full version? Full article
