Mechanics of Persuasion: The Propaganda is the Point
DHS is set to spend more on ads than all Democrats spent on immigration-related TV ads in the 2024 cycle
Mechanics of Persuasion is our bi-weekly series providing critical communications know-hows and research to push back against anti-immigrant narratives by understanding segments of the population, employing the most effective strategies and tools, and messaging with a purpose and persuasion.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly set to waste $200 million taxpayer dollars on anti-immigrant propaganda–nearly double what Democrats spent on immigration-related TV ads in 2024. If Democrats can learn anything from the GOP, it’s this: saturate the airwaves and their social media platforms, repeat your message and the solutions, and define the opposition. Coordination and amplification is key to disrupting their dominance.
Fear and cruelty are the point of the mass family separation agenda, but Trump clearly understands that propaganda is just as essential. This isn’t just about immigration enforcement; it’s a full-scale marketing campaign to manufacture public support for mass deportations—turning manic, unrestrained enforcement into a spectacle and a selling point for Americans to accept, maybe even cheer for.
Fox News Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: “This Is Guerrilla Warfare”
We can’t believe we’re saying it, but Jesse Watters nails the strategy: “We are waging a 21st-century information warfare campaign.” Watters went on to describe the exact strategy right-wing media uses to flood the ecosystem:
Someone posts something inflammatory
Elon Musk and leading right-wing voices amplify it to millions
Joe Rogan and right-wing bros podcast about it
Fox News and right-wing media broadcasts it nationwide
Millions of people see it—for free. That’s the level of coordination and scale the right is working with. Democrats are still playing catch-up.
DHS Ads: Selling Mass Deportation to the American Consumer Voter
The latest DHS ad campaign is a taxpayer-funded political stunt, not a serious deterrent strategy. These ads aren’t about dissuading undocumented immigrants from crossing the border or encouraging them to “self deport”; they are about conditioning American voters to see mass deportations as inevitable, necessary, and even heroic.
The first clue? The ads are in English. They aren’t aimed at would-be migrants but at American voters, pushing a Willie Horton-style racist dog whistle. While DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ominously promises to “hunt you down,” the ads themselves are pure campaign material for Trump, littered with stock footage, grainy images of the border, and false claims that “weak politicians” have flooded communities with crime, drugs, and human trafficking.
None of it is true—but the facts don’t matter when you repeat a lie enough times and no one counters it.
The Right’s Playbook: Turning Immigration Raids Into Reality TV
Beyond paid media, Trump’s administration is using state resources to produce a spectacle. Immigration raids are being filmed and staged for TV, with DHS coordinating with Fox News and even Dr. Phil to turn mass arrests into entertainment.
This administration isn’t focused on prioritizing serious enforcement threats—it’s producing a COPS-style reality show, where ICE arrests are packaged for prime-time consumption. Nearly half of all immigrants targeted for arrest have no prior criminal record, but that won’t stop Kristi Noem from cosplaying as an action star in scripted PR stunts designed to boost Trump’s popularity and Republicans’ re-election campaigns.
It’s not just Fox News. Online right-wing influencers are feeding the nativist narrative daily. DHS has tailored its propaganda for maximum virality, producing:
Classic racist dog-whistle content pushing the idea that immigrants are criminals.
A nativist Valentine’s Day card mocking immigrant families.
A “Deportation ASMR” video, which was boosted by Elon Musk himself.
Tom Homan’s nightly Fox News strategy, using his platform to blame Democrats for low deportation numbers and calling for a criminal investigation into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to push the lie that they protect undocumented criminals.
This is not just messaging—it’s indoctrination. And the goal is clear: to normalize mass deportations and turn them into a public spectacle.
The Offense Strategy
The best message in the world is useless if no one hears it. Republicans understand this, which is why they aren’t just repeating anti-immigrant lies—they’re saturating every platform, every news cycle, and every medium to ensure no other narrative breaks through. Their propaganda isn’t winning on merit; it’s filling a void left by Democratic silence. While the right floods the airwaves with fearmongering, Democrats act as if polling alone will save them, assuming facts will speak for themselves. But facts don’t win battles—feelings do.
The immigration debate isn’t just about policy—it’s about shaping how voters feel about the world around them. If the only voices in their ears are Trump’s DHS ads, Fox News surrogates, and viral disinformation, they will believe the country is under siege. And once that fear takes hold, it becomes politically useful. This is why Republicans push crime narratives even when violent crime is at historic lows and sell “border invasion” hysteria even as crossings decline. Their goal isn’t to describe reality—it’s to create it. Meanwhile, Democrats either avoid the issue entirely or adopt GOP talking points, hoping moderation will win people over. It won’t.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez lays out the right messaging strategy – with the caveat that her blueprint actually applies to ALL critical voting blocs in America, not just Latinos:
Winning the immigration debate is about repeatedly reminding voters how bold yet pragmatic immigration solutions can offer value to working families’ quality of life and strengthen our country’s economic edge. There’s a reason why the idea and policy of citizenship is widely popular, because it offers Americans the feeling, the notion and the security that those who are our neighbors and those aspiring to be our future neighbors are following the rules, getting vetted, and taking the oath to earn the privilege of American citizenship. Democrats who double down on the values of citizenship and offer a plan for a modern approach to our border – AND make it part of their larger vision for working families will find a captive audience.
There’s a way to deliver this messaging, and every edition of Mechanics of Persuasion we’ll be exploring how to do so, employing data-backed messages, latest advertising and tech techniques, and examples modeling a persuasive campaign. You’ll also hear from fellow experts.
Stay tuned.
"Amnesty" as a message is the low hanging fruit to win back with a broad American majority for whom the election year esteem for deportation political fantasies is dropping like a stone in reality.
"Amnesty" as a message is the low hanging fruit to win back with a broad American majority for whom the election year esteem for deportation political fantasies is dropping like a stone in reality.