Whitehouse’s previous letter to Secretary Noem on the topic went unanswered
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter this week to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin seeking answers on the Department’s recruitment tactics that have drawn law enforcement scrutiny for white supremacist messaging. Whitehouse’s letter was sent the same day President Trump signed Republicans’ $70-billion partisan mega-bill to fund ICE and Customs and Border Patrol through the end of President Trump’s term.
“DHS and ICE have deployed recruitment ads featuring white nationalist slogans, songs, and imagery while lowering recruitment standards—facilitating the hiring of agents with histories of violent extremism. I renew my request about what DHS has done to ensure it has not been infiltrated by violent extremists, and who is responsible for this dangerous recruitment campaign,” wrote Whitehouse in the letter.
As first reported in The Intercept, the Colorado Information Analysis Center—a law enforcement fusion center conducting threat assessments to prevent acts of terrorism—issued to police partners a bulletin on dangers related to DHS’s recent recruitment tactics. That bulletin documented similarities between ICE recruitment tactics and white supremacist messaging, warning that, “white supremacist violent extremist groups have been simultaneously advocating for their followers to join ICE and/or musing about the potential for ICE to turn into a white supremacist militia.”
“I cannot believe that you support the messages associated with these recruitment campaigns, or want anyone under your supervision to use the imprimatur of the United States Government to promote those messages. Accordingly, I ask that you respond to the questions in my February 23 letter and assure that DHS has taken all necessary steps to rectify these problems,” concluded Whitehouse in his letter to Secretary Mullin.
In February, Whitehouse wrote a letter to former Secretary Kristi Noem demanding answers on the Department of Homeland Security’s recruitment tactics – which appear to facilitate the hiring of agents with a history of violet extremism – and questionable hiring standards for ICE agents as the Trump administration raced to scale up hiring at the agency.
The Senator had requested answers to the following questions by March 9, 2026. He has yet to receive a response:
- Which officials at DHS or its component agencies are responsible for advertising, social media, and other public-facing campaigns to recruit new ICE and CBP officials?
- Which individuals are involved in the drafting, posting, and approving of social media posts for DHS and its component agencies, including the examples below?
- DHS’s October 22, 2025, Instagram post with the caption “America for Americans”?
- DHS and ICE’s August 11, 2025, Instagram post with the caption “Which way, America man”?
- DHS’s January 9, 2026, X.com post with the caption “We’ll have our home again”?
- What outside firms or vendors have been involved in the drafting, posting, and approving of advertisements and social media posts for DHS and its component agencies since January 20, 2025?
- What outside firms and vendors were involved in the drafting, posting, and approving of the advertisement in DHS’s October 22, 2025, Instagram post with the caption “America for Americans”?
- What outside firms and vendors were involved in the drafting, posting, and approving of the advertisement in DHS and ICE’s August 11, 2025, Instagram post with the caption “Which way, America man”?
- What outside firms and vendors were involved in the drafting, posting, and approving of the advertisement in DHS’s January 9, 2026, X.com post with the caption “We’ll have our home again”?
- In 2025 and 2026, has DHS or its component agencies hired, coordinated, or otherwise worked with any social media “influencers” as part of ICE and CBP recruitment campaigns? If so, which ones?
- Does DHS have an official definition of “domestic violent extremism”? If so, what is it and when was it adopted?
- Do background checks for all applicants include an assessment of potential connections to violent extremist or terrorist organizations? If so, in what form does that assessment occur?
Full text of the letter is below and a PDF is available here.
June 10, 2026
The Honorable Markwayne Mullin
Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE
Washington, D.C. 20528
Dear Secretary Mullin:
I write to follow up on my unanswered February 23, 2026, letter about recent Department of Homeland Security recruitment tactics.
DHS and ICE have deployed recruitment ads featuring white nationalist slogans, songs, and imagery while lowering recruitment standards—facilitating the hiring of agents with histories of violent extremism. I renew my request about what DHS has done to ensure it has not been infiltrated by violent extremists, and who is responsible for this dangerous recruitment campaign.
In March, the Colorado Information Analysis Center (CIAC)—a fusion center dedicated to conducting threat assessments to prevent acts of terrorism—issued to law enforcement partners a bulletin on dangers related to DHS’s recent recruitment tactics. That bulletin documented some of the same similarities between ICE recruitment tactics and white supremacist messaging as my February 23 letter, including DHS’s promotion of song lyrics “popular within and adopted by white nationalist organizations,” lyrics which “opened the manifesto of a white supremacist who killed three people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida in 2023.”
The CIAC warned that, “white supremacist violent extremist groups have been simultaneously advocating for their followers to join ICE and/or musing about the potential for ICE to turn into a white supremacist militia.” According to CIAC, these extremists could “misinterpret DHS messaging as a permissive environment to engage in vigilante action and/or violence.” The bulletin even noted that ICE’s messaging could “increase the likelihood that” violent extremists would “justify or advocate the use of violence” against your own people at DHS.
I cannot believe that you support the messages associated with these recruitment campaigns, or want anyone under your supervision to use the imprimatur of the United States Government to promote those messages. Accordingly, I ask that you respond to the questions in my February 23 letter and assure that DHS has taken all necessary steps to rectify these problems.
Thank you for your prompt attention to my request.
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