The administration of President Donald Trump has sparked fresh controversy with the launch of a new public campaign urging citizens to report the presence of undocumented immigrants, as part of a broader push to toughen immigration policies.

The initiative, promoted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), features a strikingly patriotic image of a man in nationalist attire pointing toward a poster — a clear visual echo of the iconic “Uncle Sam” recruitment campaigns used during the 20th century. Under the slogan “Help Your Country,” Americans are encouraged to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by calling a hotline to report “illegal” immigrants.

The campaign has ignited a wave of backlash from activists, legal experts, and scholars, who liken the move to authoritarian practices and warn of its potential social and legal consequences.

“President Trump is promoting a modern version of American fascism, cloaked in patriotism and white nationalism,” said human rights advocate Sam Worthington on the Civicus Lens platform. “Migrants have become the new scapegoats,” he added.

From a legal standpoint, immigration attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick expressed concern about the institutional consequences of such measures. “We’re facing a crisis of the rule of law and respect for civil rights,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Jorge Mario Cabrera, spokesperson for the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), warned that the campaign evokes the atmosphere of hostility experienced during the world wars. “Migrants are being treated as internal enemies,” he said in an interview with El Universal.

Francisco Moreno, of the Council of Mexican Federations (COFEM), argued that the strategy undermines constitutional principles and normalizes abuse in immigration enforcement. “It’s not just about posters — it’s the rhetoric and the actions that accompany them,” he said.

Political analyst Hernán Molina described the campaign as driven by a racially exclusive vision. “The Trump administration sees migrants as threats diluting white American identity,” he stated. “They whitewash the rhetoric, but at its core, it’s deeply xenophobic and anti-immigrant.”
Migration expert and academic Javier Urbano interpreted the campaign as a political maneuver amid declining presidential approval ratings. 

“Reviving the anti-immigrant discourse has worked for Trump before. He’s using it now as an electoral lifeline,” Urbano concluded.

Human rights organizations and migrant advocates have announced protests in several U.S. cities and are calling on the international community to closely monitor U.S. immigration policies.

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