How ICE might be manipulating Google search results to stoke fear
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The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is being accused of manipulating Google search results to give the impression that the Trump administration’s immigration raids are more effective than they truly are. The Guardian reports that old ICE press releases—some dating as far back as 2008—are populating in the top results for immigration-related Google searches. Old headlines like “New Orleans focuses targeted operations on 123 criminal noncitizens” and “ICE arrests 83 criminal aliens” give the illusion that they’re referring to current operations. But an investigation determined that the old pages have recently been updated with a timestamp reading, “Updated: 01/24/2025,” to make it appear as if something new has happened, leading to those pages showing up first in Google searches. A recent search for “ice arrests Idaho” surfaced a press release from 2010, but because of the updates—made after President Donald Trump was sworn in—the Google results make it seem like it was published this year. “If the objective is to scare people who look up raids in Idaho, that would be a good way to accomplish it,” Idaho immigration lawyer Maria Andrade told The Guardian. Cartoon by Clay Jones This comes as the Trump administration is engaged in a full public relations blitz on immigration. Attempting to portray the fulfilment of Trump’s campaign promises on mass deportation, the Trump team is blasting out releases, social media posts, and statements from the White House and other departments touting high numbers of arrests and detainments. Similarly, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has been dressing up in full ICE gear while she tags along and records immigration enforcement operations. Trump ally and fake television doctor, Phil McGraw, was also allowed to film ICE raids. But what’s really been occurring on most of the ICE raids since Trump took office falls far short of his campaign promises. Raids have led to harassment of military veterans, arrests of immigrants without criminal records, and a focus on grabbing as many people as possible—even pregnant women and children in schools, churches, and health care facilities. Trump campaigned on the lie that an immigrant crime wave was making life unsafe for U.S. citizens, even though crime declined under President Joe Biden. Just a few weeks into office, and Trump is already back to doing what he did before becoming a politician: Putting on a show for the cameras. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/6/2301877/-How-ICE-might-be-manipulating-Google-search-results-to-stoke-fear?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is being accused of manipulating Google search results to give the impression that the Trump administration’s immigration raids are more effective than they truly are. The Guardian reports that old ICE press releases—some dating as far back as 2008—are populating in the top results for immigration-related Google searches. Old headlines like “New Orleans focuses targeted operations on 123 criminal noncitizens” and “ICE arrests 83 criminal aliens” give the illusion that they’re referring to current operations. But an investigation determined that the old pages have recently been updated with a timestamp reading, “Updated: 01/24/2025,” to make it appear as if something new has happened, leading to those pages showing up first in Google searches. A recent search for “ice arrests Idaho” surfaced a press release from 2010, but because of the updates—made after President Donald Trump was sworn in—the Google results make it seem like it was published this year. “If the objective is to scare people who look up raids in Idaho, that would be a good way to accomplish it,” Idaho immigration lawyer Maria Andrade told The Guardian. Cartoon by Clay Jones This comes as the Trump administration is engaged in a full public relations blitz on immigration. Attempting to portray the fulfilment of Trump’s campaign promises on mass deportation, the Trump team is blasting out releases, social media posts, and statements from the White House and other departments touting high numbers of arrests and detainments. Similarly, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has been dressing up in full ICE gear while she tags along and records immigration enforcement operations. Trump ally and fake television doctor, Phil McGraw, was also allowed to film ICE raids. But what’s really been occurring on most of the ICE raids since Trump took office falls far short of his campaign promises. Raids have led to harassment of military veterans, arrests of immigrants without criminal records, and a focus on grabbing as many people as possible—even pregnant women and children in schools, churches, and health care facilities. Trump campaigned on the lie that an immigrant crime wave was making life unsafe for U.S. citizens, even though crime declined under President Joe Biden. Just a few weeks into office, and Trump is already back to doing what he did before becoming a politician: Putting on a show for the cameras. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/6/2301877/-How-ICE-might-be-manipulating-Google-search-results-to-stoke-fear?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main