The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has clearly drawn the ire of several Pokémon fans, after it posted a new video of ICE agents arresting alleged migrants. The one-minute video clip shows snippets of the anime’s opening theme spliced into the video.
The video honestly doesn’t do the DHS any favours; not only does it portray ICE agents forcibly entering homes and arresting people, the end of the video also features mock Pokémon cards of some of the people that the US agency calls the “Worst of the worst”, along with details of their alleged crimes, which include attempted murder and burglary.
Then, to pour salt into an already gaping wound, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency replied to the video on X with a GIF of a Detective Pikachu dancing, calling it “Border Patrol’s newest recruit”.
Once again, Pokémon fans the world over were far from impressed by the video, with many tagging Nintendo in order to bring it to the gaming company’s attention, and hopefully make the world’s most litigious gaming brand do something about it. It also doesn’t help that one of the raids in the clips shows multiple suspects being arrested without so much as a warrant being flashed. And then marched out in full view of cameras that were brought in by the ICE PR team.
Memes have long been around since the advent of social media and platforms such as X and TikTok have only accelerated their use and applications, regardless of the source. This video clip by the DHS is, unfortunately, just one of several examples of memes done in questionable taste.
At the time of writing, Nintendo has yet to respond to any queries regarding the US DHS’s use of its content in the video clip.
(Source: The Independent, The Daily Beast)
