WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement measures are not just getting attention for toughness. The Trump administration is drawing criticism for the light-hearted, perhaps even mocking, tone it has been using in describing undocumented immigrants and their plight. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Trump administration's social media posts about deportations have sparked backlash for making light of the plight of undocumented immigrants 

  • Immigrant rights activists argue the tone dehumanizes immigrants, downplays the seriousness of such action and diverts away from real conversations about reforming the immigration system

  • White House officials say their strategy has been effective and have long defended its tough immigration enforcement efforts, saying it is exactly what voters wanted in delivering the president a second term

One post likened the videos of a deportation flight to ASMR, which stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, a sensory phenomenon triggered by certain sounds.

A post on Valentine’s Day featured President Trump and his border czar Tom Homan saying “Roses are red, violets are blue. Come here illegally, and we’ll deport you.” 

Another one referenced the song “Closing Time” by the American rock band Semisonic, which ended up condemning the administration’s use of the tune. Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, was asked about this particular social media strategy.  

“We are unafraid to message effectively what the president is doing on a daily basis to make our communities safer, and the specific video you referenced, I think it sums up our immigration policy pretty well. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here,” Leavitt said.  

Immigrant rights groups like the Immigration Hub criticized the tone of these communications.

“It is a way of dehumanizing immigrants. It is a way of targeting them and making it easier also to quote, unquote, erase them. So when we see all of this, it’s a form of really chipping away at public sentiment and making immigrants seem like these criminal caricatures, which they are not. These are people, many of whom have been living here for many years, contributing to our country,” said Beatriz Lopez, co-executive director of the Immigration Hub.

Jennifer Wingard, a University of Houston professor, researches political rhetoric largely around LGTBQ+ rights and immigration. She said the social media posts downplay the seriousness of such action.

“This is punching down about something that is significant, something that really can impact families,” Wingard said. “It just kind of separates the humanity of what is actually happening in these situations.” 

She mentioned the recent deportation of the family members of a 10-year-old Houston girl recovering from brain surgery. 

Wingard said she believes the content also diverts away from real conversations about reforming what many consider is a broken immigration system.  

“Larger conversations around what a fair and equal immigration system for this country do need to happen, and they’ve needed to happen for years,” Wingard said. “These funny videos, although they are amusing or they, you know, get clicks, the challenge with them is they really short circuit any kind of consideration about these issues. What they do is they give you just a sound bite or a meme or something small, and then you can kind of go about your day and not consider it and allow then those immigrants that have to be deported to become villains in a much larger and more complicated problem.” 

The Trump administration has long defended its tough immigration enforcement efforts, saying it is exactly what voters wanted in delivering the president a second term. 

“We are unafraid to double down and to take responsibility and ownership of the serious decisions that are being made. The president was elected with an overwhelming mandate to launch the largest mass deportation campaign in American history, and that’s exactly what he is doing,” Leavitt said.