Homeland Security Uses Pokémon Theme to Recruit for ICE | Headline USA
(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) In its latest display of viral social-media buzz-building, the Department of Homeland Security used the theme from Pokémon in a video to recruit new border agents.
The video spliced scenes of agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement arresting illegal immigrants alongside clips of the beloved Nintendo franchise, which first launched in 1998 and dominated the childhoods of many millennials now in their 20s and 30s.
Among those applauding the clever juxtaposition was the account of former pro-MAGA Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., who is rumored to be eyeing another political run in Florida.
My friends at DHS are doing a great job. Protect the homeland! https://t.co/n8AMSoIIGL
— Madison Cawthorn (@realcawthorn) September 26, 2025
“My friends at DHS are doing a great job. Protect the homeland!” said the post from the 30-year-old Cawthorn’s personal account.
Reactions to the video varied, with some using it to spark their own creative impulses—including at least one meme mashup featuring Vice President J.D. Vance.
— Silent Memejority (@memejority) September 23, 2025
Others celebrated the ruthless psychological game that the Trump administration’s immigration agencies were playing in subtly demoralizing scofflaw border-hoppers by turning them into trading cards.
Can you imagine having a montage of arresting you/deporting you being made, and then they make a pokemon card out of you too.
What do you even do after that? it’s literally over pic.twitter.com/Pv73BGqQWE
— ManaMoon (@ManaMoonNFT) September 22, 2025
A post from the official account of U.S. Customs and Border Protection riffed off the DHS one by featuring a clip of the iconic Pikachu character dancing that was captioned “Border Patrol’s newest recruit.”
Border Patrol’s newest recruit. pic.twitter.com/KjGhBdsq7X
— CBP (@CBP) September 23, 2025
Some, however, pounced on the question of whether the satirical posts were sanctioned by Pokémon, with the company indicating that they were not.
“We are aware of a recent video posted by the Department of Homeland Security that includes imagery and language associated with our brand,” said a statement to Variety magazine on Wednesday. “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.”
Still, the company is unlikely to press claims of copyright abuse since DHS did not directly profit from the post, making it a difficult legal bar to clear.
Moreover, Pokémon may wish to avoid a confrontation with immigration officials since “many of their execs in the USA are on green cards,” said the company’s former chief legal officer, Don McGowan.
“Even if I was still at the company I wouldn’t touch this, and I’m the most trigger-happy CLO I’ve ever met,” McGowan told gaming website IGN. “This will blow over in a couple of days, and they’ll be happy to let it.”
DHS has already garnered headlines—for better or worse—with its previous efforts to tap into Gen Z and millennial culture.
Popular podcaster and comedian Theo Vonn—who famously told Donald Trump of his cocain addiction during a campaign interview last year—disavowed the department’s use of his likeness without permission in a now-deleted X post.
“Yooo DHS i didnt approve to be used in this,” he wrote. “I know you know my address so send a check. And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos.”
Vonn later expressed his concern that the perceived endorsement could make him the target of political violence following several recent deadly attacks on ICE detention facilities.
it’s crazy to me that they would think this is OK. What if someone attacks me tomorrow because they think I’m some final boss of deportatins or somethin
— Theo Von (@TheoVon) September 24, 2025
DHS also posted a parody recruitment video intended to mock immigration officials in a recent episode of South Park.
https://t.co/nZkBEj3GGi pic.twitter.com/N7cFpDhb7W
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 5, 2025
The raunchy cartoon, now in its 27th season, offered its send-up on ICE’s recruitment efforts in an August episode that also ridiculed conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, like DHS, notably leaned into the caricature depiction, even making it his own social-media avatar. However, it is unclear whether South Park’s mockery may have contributed to his Sept. 10 assassination by a 22-year-old gunman.
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.