US Immigration “ASMR” Video Sparks Backlash
Last Monday, the White House posted a video on its official X account titled, “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight,” with the now-viral clip garnering 103.3 million views.
The video, a parody of the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) trend, features imagery and sounds of seemingly-undocumented migrant shackled by metal chains, escorted and boarded onto a plane by ICE agents.
This X post was a shorter clip of an extended video published by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Seattle office, with migrants appearing to have been arrested and preparing to be flown out of the city.
The clip has generated both support and backlash, as President Trump continues his mass deportation efforts one month into his second presidential term, with the president calling his immigration plans, “the largest deportation program in American history.”
Many have commended President Trump for his efforts, as the undocumented migrants who have been detained in these targeted attacks have lengthy criminal histories, ranging from drug offenses to murder and assault charges. As well, Homeland Security has issued a Press Release article titled “Promises Made, Promises Kept: President Trump is Already Securing Our Border and Deporting Criminal Aliens.”
According to a BBC article published on February 22, the Trump administration has deported 37,600 people in the president’s first month in office, seemingly proving Trump’s campaign promise of cracking down on illegal immigration.
However, there has been a public outcry over Trump’s recent and future policies concerning immigration, with many X users calling the recent X post, “disgusting” and “cruel.” San Diego migrant advocate Benjamin Prado referred to the video as, “trying to terrorize and use this imagery in a way that forces people to be fearful…”
Many argue that this video has generated a hostile sentiment against the immigrant community, as immigrants, including those with legal residency in the US, refrain from answering their doors due to the intense detainments and policies implemented in the past month.
The political turmoil has yet to rest, as ICE agencies are being faced with executive pressure from the president to increase the number of arrests made per day, leaving the nation to question the lengths Trump will go to fulfill his campaign promise.