Trump’s DHS is recruiting ICE officers with a Halo meme
In a controversial move, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has drawn criticism for using popular video game imagery to promote its initiatives on social media. Following a previous post that employed the original Pokémon theme song in a montage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, the DHS has now turned to the iconic franchise Halo. This morning, the agency shared an image featuring Halo characters and a Warthog vehicle, accompanied by the phrase “DESTROY THE FLOOD” and a link to ICE’s recruitment website. The post was captioned with the phrase “finishing this fight,” drawing a direct parallel between the ongoing struggles in immigration policy and the fictional battles within the Halo universe.
The implications of this messaging are troubling, as the DHS’s Halo-themed post implicitly likens immigrants to the parasitic alien species known as the Flood. This comparison raises ethical questions about the portrayal of individuals seeking refuge or a better life in the U.S. and reflects a broader trend of using pop culture references to frame serious issues in a lighthearted manner. The post was part of a humorous exchange between the Trump administration and video game retailer GameStop, which began with a joke about Trump overseeing the end of the “console wars” following the announcement of a Halo remake for PlayStation. GameStop’s CEO, Ryan Cohen, a known supporter of Trump, contributed to the playful banter with a photoshopped image of Trump shaking hands with Halo’s protagonist, Master Chief, further blurring the lines between political discourse and gaming culture.
Microsoft, the parent company of Halo, has not publicly commented on the DHS’s post, nor has it responded to inquiries regarding the political meme exchange involving the White House and GameStop. Meanwhile, the Pokémon Company International previously distanced itself from the use of its brand in connection with Trump’s immigration policies, stating that it had no involvement in the creation or distribution of the content that used its intellectual property. This ongoing trend of governmental agencies utilizing video game narratives for recruitment and propaganda purposes raises significant concerns about the ethics of such representations and the potential normalization of harmful stereotypes surrounding immigration.
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After using the original
Pokémon
theme song
in a montage of ICE raids
, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using another popular video game franchise to promote itself on social media:
Halo
. This morning, the DHS posted an image featuring
Halo
characters, a Warthog vehicle from the games, and the text “DESTROY THE FLOOD” and a link to ICE’s recruitment website. The DHS captioned
the post
, “finishing this fight.”
Finishing this fight.
pic.twitter.com/6Ezq9NUqMq
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov)
October 27, 2025
Like with its
Pokémon
-themed post, which was captioned, “Gotta Catch ‘Em All,” the DHS’s
Halo
post implicitly compares immigrants to creatures from video games — this time, the parasitic alien species called the Flood.
The DHS’s post was the culmination of a social media exchange between the Trump administration and video game retailer GameStop, based on a joke that Trump had overseen the
end of the “console wars”
thanks to the announcement of the
Halo: Combat Evolved
remake
for PlayStation next year. GameStop, whose CEO and chairman Ryan Cohen has been
a vocal supporter of Trump,
quoted the joke with a picture of Trump
shaking hands with
Halo
protagonist Master Chief.
The White House followed up with an image of Trump in
a suit of armor similar to Master Chief’s,
and GameStop responded with its own
photoshopped Master Chief Trump
, adding a meme-ified version of Vice President JD Vance’s head swapped onto what looks to be the feminine anthropomorphic AI Cortana.
https://t.co/8DRFpgbFv5
pic.twitter.com/wWvOYrwSUR
— GameStop (@gamestop)
October 27, 2025
https://t.co/jI0ZrstLgz
pic.twitter.com/VS32cV0RG7
— GameStop (@gamestop)
October 27, 2025
Microsoft declined to comment about the DHS’s post, and didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the White House’s and GameStop’s posts. The Pokémon Company International, in response to
Pokémon
being associated with Trump’s mass deportation campaign, previously said in a statement
to
The Daily Beast
that “our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property.”
Correction, October 27th
: The Pokémon Company International provided the statement to The Daily Beast, not Nintendo, as we originally stated.
