Cringe At The Capitol: How ‘Deportation ASMR’ Could Undermine Immigration Policy

If the goal was to get a rise out of everyone and stir up a conversation about immigration, they need to give whatever Zoomer social media manager is posting on The White House account a raise. That being said, most responses across the political spectrum were overwhelmingly critical. While opinions on immigration policy diverged along party lines, most agreed that the post was tone deaf, whether because it delighted in callous cruelty by “fetishizing harm” or felt indulgently “psychopathic.” 

Others were skeptical that optics are of paramount importance, reminding everyone "this is what deportation actually is” and questioning what people expected: “Papers? Vibes? Essays?” Philosophicat tweeted, "you can think that's in bad taste, but it would still be occurring regardless of the filming. Is it only 'cruel' because you saw it on video, where you get the chance to observe that no one is being harmed?" While it’s true the left might criticize any unapologetic deportation stance, feigning confusion over why this specific stunt provoked widespread revulsion is disingenuous. There’s a difference between enforcing a necessary policy and mimetically reveling in it.

The White House's video isn't just a documentation of law enforcement, it's an attempt to turn a serious function of government into a spectacle through shitposting. Even if you support stricter immigration enforcement, this kind of branding invites justified backlash. It feeds straight into the liberal narrative that immigration enforcement is about some sinister degradation of humanity rather than a necessity to preserve our nation as we know it.

The MAGA right’s embrace of low-vibrational aesthetics or half-hearted publicity stunts signals an unwillingness to build a broad coalition for strong border policy in favor of clout-chasing on social media. So long as they get the endorsement of Quirk Chungus in Chief, Elon Musk, who cosigns it with “Haha wow” they call that a legitimate political accomplishment. Some have likened it to “celebrating a public hanging with Reddit millennial aesthetics”: morally and aesthetically low. @Coldhealing raised a valid point in suggesting that "normal people will get sick of the antiwoke right far faster than they got sick of the woke left.”

Past administrations deported plenty of people. Barack Obama was nicknamed the “Deporter in Chief,” yet it was hardly even a blip in his administration’s legacy. Why? Because he didn’t gloat or pettily indulge in videos of human suffering. Optics are an unavoidable political chess game that we have to play and unfortunately 2025 MAGA’s messaging has been overwrought with gauche sensibilities. 

Some, like @Leamaric, see this as a practical deterrent: “Don’t come here illegally and do crime, or we will humiliate you & send you back in chains.” But are we really tailoring our political messaging to criminals? We’re not negotiating with terrorists. We need regular American people to be on board with securing our borders, and this messaging isn't being well received. It's causing a rebound reaction that causes people to recoil at any policy meant to curb illegal immigration. If the "Deporter in Chief" didn’t meet even a fraction of resistance against his immigration policy, we may need to contend with the importance of tact to achieve our political goals not just in the short term, but the long term.

Pursuing policy positions full force without any care for how they’re publicly perceived can drastically dwindle the right’s gaining cultural momentum and give the ‘ole pendulum a good swing back to the hard left. The right’s embrace of lowbrow, undiscerning characters is causing some seriously tactless stunts that repel normal people, and we need normal people on our side. We may have won the war against wokeism, but if we're not careful, it'll make a righteous comeback. There’s nothing that loses people’s good will and patience more than a lack of grace.