The US Department of Homeland Security has reportedly spent $500,000 on YouTube Ads since April 1st to deter irregular migration.
It’s not just a poor April Fool’s joke.
The US Department of Homeland Security is actually using YouTube ads to deter people from entering the United States illegally, a Wired investigation reveals.
The federal agency supposedly spent over $500,000 on roughly 30 YouTube ads that threaten deportation and a ban on reentry to undocumented migrants.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is the head of the campaign, which openly criminalizes migrants and encourages “self deportation” through the US Customs and Border Protection app (CBP One).
Wired accessed the Google Ads Transparency Center and found that the government has reserved $594,600 for the digital campaign.
These funds were then divided according to area, with California accounting for 35% of the total spending, Wired reports.
Other high-priority areas touched by the campaign include Texas, Florida, Illinois, and New York, while certain regions like Arizona received significantly less.
Wired concludes that the distribution of funds shows that the US is targeting areas with high migrant populations that tend to be easily affected by misinformation.
The campaign was revealed in February. The press release states that this “international multimillion-dollar ad campaign” serves as a warning to illegal aliens to “leave our country now or face deportation.”
The ad campaign features Noem, who thanks Donald Trump for “putting America first.” Noem also delivers one message to illegal migrants: “Leave now.”
“If you don’t, we will find you and we will deport you,” Noem continues.
There were also international ads that were aired in Mexico, where Noem said, “If you are considering entering America illegally, don’t even think about it.”
“If you come to our country and break our laws, we will hunt you down,” Noem says menacingly.
“Criminals are not welcome in the United States.”
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