Every president oversees deportations of undocumented migrants. But President Donald Trump is producing “deportation TV” – making sure people around the world can see his immigration policy in action.
The administration’s immigration sweeps have a made-for-TV feel, as Trump-aligned media outlets have been allowed to ride along with law enforcement agents in recent days. The actions have a made-for-the-internet feel, too, as officials share photos on social media of deportation flights and border deployments.
On Tuesday morning, for example, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted videos and photos on X from an enforcement operation in the Bronx. Speaking like a newscaster, Noem said that she was “live this AM from NYC.” In a matter of minutes, Noem’s videos were the top story on Fox News, the main pro-Trump network in the country.
“President Trump is, of course, a television producer,” ’s Abby Phillip said on Monday’s “NewsNight,” and this is “a story he wants the entire American public to watch: ICE agents in cities near you, outfitted with military-style equipment, detaining migrants that the Trump administration labels as dangerous.”
Trump administration officials say the X posts and TV programs are, in part, meant to deter people from coming to the United States. The highly publicized actions are also about proving Trump is following through on campaign promises.
Last week, Fox correspondent Bill Melugin was given what the network called “exclusive access” to an ICE patrol in Boston. Melugin’s report showed federal agents arresting a combative man who said, “I’m not going back to Haiti! You feel me?”
The clip generated lots of attention both on Fox and online, and Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, leveraged the moment. “He’s wrong. He’s going back to Haiti. I can tell him that,” Homan said.
Over the weekend, Trump administration officials arranged another ride-along, that time in Chicago, for the daytime TV talk show star Dr. Phil McGraw.
McGraw, who endorsed Trump during the 2024 campaign, livestreamed some immigration sweeps on his own network, Merit TV. At one point, he was recognized by one of the men being detained – a surreal scene that Fox subsequently wrote about.
McGraw’s TV network did little to promote his “embed” afterward. But his unusual presence at an ICE raid garnered widespread media coverage elsewhere. McGraw later told the Chicago Tribune he was there for “transparency.”
“Transparency is going to be important for people to understand what’s going on and what’s not going on,” McGraw said. “I’ve read a lot of things about sweeping neighborhoods and raiding businesses and even schools and things like that. That is just absolutely untrue. That’s not going on.”
As reported this week, some federal agents assisting with the sweeps were told to be camera-ready, with clothing clearly depicting their respective agency. It all contributes to a “show of force” – a phrase used repeatedly in the news coverage in recent days.
The Trump administration’s approach underscores the difference between showing and telling. While past administrations have employed a wide array of immigration enforcement efforts, and have told the public about it, the Trump administration is emphasizing the “show,” recognizing what voters see and how it makes them feel is politically important.
During President Joe Biden’s years in office, right-wing media outlets emphasized immigration-related threats; “we call it Biden migrant crime,” Trump said on the campaign trail, echoing his favorite pundits on Fox.
Now, with Trump back in office, Fox’s fear factor has ratcheted down; the network’s shows are parroting the administration’s rhetoric about removing “the worst first,” meaning people with a litany of criminal convictions. Many researchers crunching the numbers have found there’s no connection between immigration and crime. Some have even found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the US.
A viral post on the social media site Bluesky captured the left’s prevailing sentiment on Monday: “The reality show President is creating mini ‘reality shows’ to satisfy the voyeuristic interests” of Americans, knowing that “a significant number of people get pleasure from watching others suffer.”
But over on X, where right-wing accounts dominate, the primary emotion is excitement. Accounts like @LibsOfTikTok are reposting ICE stats about arrests and expressing relief about criminals being deported.
anchor Kaitlan Collins asked Homan on Monday night about treating the immigration sweeps as “a made-for-TV moment.”
“We’re sending a message,” Homan said. “It’s not OK to be in this country illegally. It is not OK to enter this country illegally. It is a crime. And there’s going to be consequences.”
