Campaign will target rightwing ideologues to fill ranks to meet Trump deportation goals in 2026

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly planned a $100m, one-year media blitz for what it’s calling “wartime recruitment”, targeting conservative radio show listeners, gun rights aficionados, military affairs followers and men’s interests enthusiasts – among others in the MAGA-verse – for jobs in the Trump administration’s next phase of its mass deportation campaign.

As ICE looks to hire for thousands of new positions, flush with cash after an unprecedented influx from Congress last summer, it’s relying on geofencing to ensure people near military bases, Nascar races, gun and trade shows, and college campuses receive its recruitment ads, according to an internal document reported by the Washington Post.

Officials also intend to spend $8m or more on deals with fitness, military and tactical/lifestyle online influencers, who would use their sway to push the administration’s immigration agenda through livestreams, events, and other content meant for their gen Z and millennial audiences.