Earlier this week, a claim spread online suggesting that a photo showed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arresting a man wearing a shirt with the slogan “Latinos for Trump 2024.” The claim went viral a few days after Donald Trump entered White House, as federal authorities carried out mass deportation measures under the new administration.
A post from an X user on Monday showing the image garnered more than 1 million views. The photo was being shared across Instagram, Threads, and X. One user on X added a sarcastic caption to the image, mocking the man in the photo for allegedly voting Trump back into the White House.
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However, the image was altered by an unknown user to include the “Latinos for Trump 2024” logo. The modification also changed the agents’ uniforms, replacing “HSI” with “ICE,” although the original photo actually displayed “HSI” for Homeland Security Investigations. Both ICE and HSI are divisions within the Department of Homeland Security.
The unedited version of the photo was available for licensing on Alamy and Getty Images. The original caption described the scene as “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents arrested alleged immigration violators at Fresh Mark [in] Salem, [Ohio, on] June 19, 2018.”
According to a survey by The Associated Press, which included more than 120,000 voters, Trump received a higher percentage of support from both Black and Latino voters in 2024 compared to the 2020 election, with the most significant increase seen among men under 45.
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On Tuesday, The AP reported that ICE agents had surpassed 1,000 daily arrests of immigrants living in the U.S. without legal status, a significant increase from the previous average of around 300 arrests per day during President Joe Biden’s administration.
The AP noted that if this pace continues, it would represent the highest daily average since ICE began tracking such data.
Trump border czar Tom Homan has been continuing several raids as he has vowed to deport all illegal immigrants in the United States.
In one of the latest developments, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Wednesday that she had cut the duration of deportation protections for 600,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to increase deportations of Venezuelan nationals.
Noem said in an interview with Fox News that she had reversed the previous administration’s decision to extend deportation relief and work permits for Venezuelans through the Temporary Protected Status program, leaving open the possibility that these protections could expire later this year.
Noem also revealed that she was collaborating with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to explore options for deporting Venezuelans and other migrants from countries that restrict the number of deportees they accept. When asked about the potential use of the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for housing migrants, Noem confirmed that the administration was considering that option.
