The Department of Homeland Security's X Account

Judging by posts on X, the Department of Homeland Security has become a proponent of white nationalism, Christian supremacy, and ethnic cleansing. Apparently run by Internet trolls, the official Homeland Security X account @DHSgov routinely steals the intellectual property of others and misappropriates it in support of white Christian ethnocentrism. As always when it comes to trolls, it is difficult to know whether trolling is the primary goal of the posts or whether the posts actually represent the agenda of the Department. That distinction probably does not matter in this case as the X account represents an official U.S. government department that is funded through taxpayers' dollars. If government employees are being paid to troll, that is concerning. If the content they are producing actually represents what DHS hopes to achieve, that is even more problematic. Either way, the content being posted by DHS is completely inappropriate and simply another indication of an agency that is out of control.

Much of the content being posted by @DHSgov appears aimed at portraying an idyllic version of America that is often portrayed as a sort of Norman Rockwell version of the past. Indeed, Rockwell's artwork has been misappropriated by DHS and used in anti-immigration campaigns. The Rockwell family has strongly objected to this use, saying that DHS is communicating messages that are completely contrary to what Rockwell believed.

This highlights another aspect of DHS's behavior. Intellectual property is routinely stolen and used in ways in which the IP owners object. Content owners often have very little realistic recourse to prevent this misuse of their content. In addition, and ironically given the agency's emphasis on American values, DHS relies on a significant amount of foreign content. It is not clear that the DHS content-producer has much of an understanding of the content being stolen. Often artistic works are deployed by DHS in contexts that are completely divorced from the creator's intent.

One example of a DHS post that has several of these characteristics was one containing a picture of an automobile parked on a beach with the caption, "America After 100 Million Deportations". The car, which is the only object on an otherwise abandoned beach, appears to be a stylized version of a mid to late 1960s Chevrolet Impala. Posting the picture, DHS included text saying, "The peace of a nation no longer besieged by the third world."

In this case, the picture is the work of Japanese artist Hiroshi Nagai. Nagai has objected to the unauthorized use of his artwork. It is beyond ironic that DHS is attempting to portray its vision of America through the stolen work of a Japanese artist. It is not clear whether DHS is suggesting that 1960s America is the period to which it hopes to return or whether the agency simply has a love of classic cars. At any rate, I would not disagree that DHS is stuck in the past. However, I am not sure that the DHS content creator paid very close attention to the picture. To my eye, it appears that the DHS vision of America is about to get wiped out by a giant blue wave. Let's hope that is accurate foreshadowing for November.

Beyond the graphic elements, there are more important issues with the DHS post. Its caption promotes 100 million deportations. As immigration lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick posted on Bluesky:

There are only 45 million foreign-born people living in the United States right now, about half of whom are naturalized citizens. So this ridiculous edge-lord post by taxpayer-funded trolls is suggesting deporting 55 million native-born citizens.

The entire U.S. population right now is about 340 million, so DHS is proposing to deport nearly a third of current American residents. One way to interpret this is that DHS hopes that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship. In that case, DHS may be planning to deport U.S.-born children of immigrants.

Another recent DHS post was a recruiting advertisement picturing "Judge Gigachad". Gigachad is a meme popular in the incel world representing the archetypal ultra-masculine, physically attractive male. Gigachad originated from photographs by Russian photographer Krista Sudmalis and has been popularized by Instagram content creator Ernest Khalimov (who may or may not have been the original model for the photographs). Judge Gigachad is adorned by a peruke, or the type of wig worn by British judges. Such wigs are not used by American judges. Moreover, the nameplate on the judge's bench says "Circuit Court Judge". The Department of Justice employs so-called immigration judges, which have apparently been renamed now to "deportation" judges. Circuit Court judges are members of the judicial branch and have nothing to do with DOJ. I am not sure what is worse in this post. The use of an incel meme, the foreign origin of the photo, the British attire, or the technically incorrect type of judge. All aimed at deporting immigrants.

On Christmas Day, DHS posted a video of scenes of America set to the hymn, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". The video was titled, "Christ is Born" and DHS added the text "Rejoice America, Christ is born!" It is not clear what this post has to do with the DHS mission, but it is an obvious violation of the separation of church and state. Many non-Christian Americans, as well as quite a few Christians, would certainly object to this government-sponsored endorsement of religion. In what appears to be par for the course for DHS, the video relied on an English hymn. DHS appears to struggle to find content of American origin.

In November, DHS posted a picture titled "The Rough Riders" by Mort Kunstler. The post included a quote from former President Theodore Roosevelt saying, in part, "We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language." The problem with this post is that Kunstler's painting shows Roosevelt's Rough Riders fighting in Cuba. Therefore, the painting glorifies the invasion of a sovereign nation by those with a different language and different flag. Talk about mixed messages.

Also in November, DHS posted another painting. This one titled "The First Thanksgiving" by Jennie Augusta Brownscomb. DHS added text saying, "An Appeal to Heaven answered. A Homeland to be thankful for, and a future worth fighting for." The painting shows Pilgrims gathered around a table giving thanks for the food they are about to eat. Also at the table are Native Americans. The facts of the first Thanksgiving are disputed, but this painting clearly represents the traditional story of indigenous inhabitants of this land enabling European immigrants to survive the harsh winter they first encountered. As such, the painting shows natives welcoming foreigners, the exact opposite of the DHS message.

DHS has similarly misappropriated another beloved American symbol, the Statue of Liberty. The statue is famously inscribed with the words, "Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." As above, this is the exact opposite of what Homeland Security wants. DHS wants to deport the poor and huddled masses from abroad, not welcome them. Yet countless DHS posts contain images of the Statue of Liberty. For instance, last month DHS posted a recruitment advertisement for "Homeland Defenders" in which the Statue of Liberty is captioned with "Secure America's Future". A symbol of America's acceptance of the world's huddled masses has been deformed into an image supporting the deportation of those masses.

Just days ago, DHS posted a Revolutionary War painting with the caption, "Return This Land." Added to the post was the text "Gird yourself with the spirit of 1776. 2026 will be the year of American Supremacy." Everything about this post is fictional. The flag in the painting is not correct for the period, appearing to be the current flag rather than the flag of 1776. Moreover, DHS seems to ignore the important contributions that immigrants made to the Revolutionary War effort. Foreign-born heroes such as Marquis de Lafayette, Casimir Pulaski, and Tadeusz Kościuszko were critical to the American victory. Alexander Hamilton played an almost unparalleled role as a founding father. Most troubling, when considered in the context of DHS's vision of America as a white, Christian nation, is that "American Supremacy" can easily be understood as white, Christian supremacy.

It is not an exaggeration to say that DHS, a department technically dedicated to protecting America's security, is actually anti-American. At least if the department's X feed is anything to go by. The department acts unlawfully by routinely stealing the artistic creations of others. It misappropriates that content with messages antithetical to the artists' original vision. Even the most esteemed American symbols are subject to DHS's malformed reinterpretations. The overall message is that DHS desires a white, Christian nation.