At first glance, the scuffle in the video looks shocking. A New York City school principal, brandishing a bat, stops masked ICE agents from trying to enter the building, and instead of violence, the encounter erupts into cheers from onlookers. “Let me show you why they call me bat girl,” he said to them. In other clips like it, a server throws a bowl of hot noodles at two police officers who are eating at a Chinese restaurant, and the owner of the restaurant flexes his Fourth Amendment rights. None of the encounters ended in bloodshed.
The videos, which are equal parts intense and explosive, are also clearly generated with AI. They are part of the anti-ICE AI content that has spread on social media since the Minneapolis federal raid — part of Trump’s immigration crackdown — led to the killing of two US citizens in January. Both Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old US Department of Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, were unarmed when they were shot and killed by federal officials.
In America, the role of fiction—the act of imagining a better world and taking action to make it a reality—is especially important in times of political upheaval. The videos, with billions of views on Facebook and Instagram, offer a combination of review justice that considers digital diversity where ICE agents are like us: not above the law.
Overall, the anti-ICE AI videos are people’s way of countering the distortions painted by the Trump administration and MAGA activists to justify their actions, said AI creator Nicholas Arter. “In the last ten years, social media has played that role by giving a voice to people who had no access to traditional media. It’s no surprise that with AI, another big change in technology, we see the same patterns repeating themselves, people using the tools available to express feelings, fears, or resistance.” But while they may feel subtle, the videos themselves are also a form of distortion. That can have consequences, whether it’s reinforcing the narrative that people of color are the perpetrators, or making the public question the real evidence of the video.
An account with the name Mike Wayne, whose owner has rejected many requests, appears to be one of the most active posters in the genre. The account has uploaded more than 1,000 videos, mostly of people of color fighting ICE to its Instagram and Facebook pages since Good was shot on January 7. Overall, the clips read like digital counter stories: a clip of ICE agents taking a long walk, a Latina woman beating an officer, or a priest pushing masked officers through the doors of his church “My god is love.” (In fact, federal agents arrested nearly 100 pastors last week during a protest at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, where religious leaders say an estimated 2,000 people were deported.)
The videos create an alternate timeline, where the passion and anger of Americans to resist the imperialist occupation of their cities does not cost lives—and accountability matters. One of Wayne’s most viewed clips is of an ICE agent fighting white tails at a sporting event, a sight that seems overwhelming and has been viewed 11 million times in less than 72 hours. “Down with facism,” someone said from behind. Humor also plays an important role in these fairy tale style videos. In a clip posted by meme account RealStrangeAI, four drag queens wearing neon wigs are being chased by ICE officers in the St. Louis area.
