U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has released an AI-generated Christmas advert, showing Santa Claus working as an ICE agent.
The video, in which an imposing ‘Father Christmas’ is seen wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying weapons, urges undocumented immigrants to leave the country voluntarily.
The AI-generated figure, depicted wearing Santa’s traditional red suit and with a white beard, appears with an ICE logo across his chest.
He is then shown detaining migrants on a street alongside other officers, processing one individual at an immigration facility and escorting him onto a plane for deportation.
The video encourages undocumented immigrants to “avoid Santa’s naughty list” by self-deporting using the CBP One app, which was previously used by the Biden administration to allow migrants to enter the U.S. legally.
A caption for the video says participants will receive $3,000 and a free flight to their home country if they leave voluntarily.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the incentive, which has been tripled for the holiday period, is available until the end of 2025 and would be offered to people living in the country illegally.
The campaign is part of wider efforts by the department to promote voluntary deportations as an alternative to formal enforcement actions.
It comes just weeks after a previous advert pictured immigration law enforcement agents adorned in holiday decorations in a social media post, using a Santa Claus-inspired pun to promote the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
The images are part of its campaign titled, “YOU’RE GOING HO HO HOME.”
In the image, one agent is depicted wearing a Santa hat while armed with a semi-automatic rifle. Another agent, dressed in a Santa hat, is holding up a ballistic shield covered in colorful lights. In the second photo, the ballistic shield bears the words “Merry Christmas.”
DHS followed up the post with a GIF of President Donald Trump doing his signature dance move, but superimposed onto Santa’s sleigh.
The holiday-themed clip is just the latest in a long string of social media content that continue to push Trump’s deportation efforts despite protests and backlash.
Throughout the year, DHS and other immigration enforcement agencies have used memes, popular social media trends, songs from well-known artists and invoked nostalgia to promote the president’s desire for millions of undocumented immigrants.
