Ice Says Its Job Is To Stop Illegal ‘ideas’ Crossing The Border In Since-deleted X Post

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s job is to stop illegal ideas from crossing the U.S. border, according to a now-deleted social media post from the agency that drew condemnation on Thursday.

In a promotional graphic on X, ICE said they enforce over 400 federal laws to “ensure public safety and national security,” with the picture showing ICE will stop the crossings of people, money, products — and ideas. The post directs people to visit the ICE website.

The post by ICE comes a day after the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, announced it would besurveilling the social media of foreign students and immigrants applying for permanent status or other immigration benefits to the United States for alleged antisemitic activity, in a push to “protect the homeland from extremists” and “terrorist sympathizers.”

ICE told POLITICO that the post was put up in error, and that it is drafting a new post that will include “intellectual property” — not ideas.

"We regret any confusion that this error may have caused,” ICE spokesperson Mike Alvarez said. “Our number one goal is to provide accurate information to the public.”

President Donald Trump and the White House have repeatedly called his administration the most “transparent” in history and touted their free speech values, and the president has raged at what he described as government-sanctioned censorship during the Biden administration. But the administration has also sought to punish perceived enemies for their speech.

Trump has clashed with press and First Amendment groups, and has barred The Associated Press from covering some events at the White House due to the news wire’s refusal to use the name “Gulf of America.” The administration has also revoked visas for pro-Palestinian activists from college campuses across the country.

On Wednesday, Trump ordered the Department of Justice to investigate two administration aides from his first term who have been sharply critical of him. His memorandum for one of those aides, Christopher Krebs, alleges Krebs engaged in the “the censorship of disfavored speech.”

Krebs had pushed back against false narratives about the 2020 election.

As ICE’s post gained thousands of reposts online, Democratic lawmakers started calling out the post.

“ICE now policing ‘ideas’ that ‘cross the border illegally,’" Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) wrote on X.

Free speech and censorship groups denounced ICE’s actions, saying that doing so would constitute a violation of the Constitution.

“It is breathtakingly absurd and outrageous to even suggest that ideas need to be policed,” the National Coalition Against Censorship — a banner organization that includes groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and several labor organizations — wrote on X. “This post subverts everything our constitution stands for.”