The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency released a video promoting immigration exclusion using the Pokémon theme song and video, drawing strong backlash.



The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has posted a video promoting the crackdown on illegal immigrants by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The video, titled 'We've Got to Catch Them All,' uses footage and the theme song from the Pokémon anime, and depicts the anime's protagonist, Satoshi, throwing Poké Balls to catch illegal immigrants, causing outrage among Nintendo and Pokémon fans.

Pokémon fans outraged over DHS using anime for propaganda
https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-ice-dhs-nintendo/

US Department of Homeland Security uses Pokémon theme song and images in disturbing ICE promotion | Eurogamer.net
https://www.eurogamer.net/us-department-of-homeland-security-uses-pokemon-theme-song-and-images-in-disturbing-ice-promotion

The video in question can be viewed below. The video features the American version of the theme song, which is not commonly heard in Japan.




explosion



A glimpse of heavily armed soldiers



Suddenly Satoshi appears



The official name of DHS is 'Department of Homeland Security.'



Footage of the crackdown on illegal immigrants is shown one after another.



Satoshi appears again and throws a Poké Ball.



control.



Video of a Poké Ball catching a Pokémon



The content is intended to promote ICE's past investigations and immigration enforcement.




Finally, Satoshi throws the Poké Ball.



Then, a number of criminals who ICE has supposedly caught so far were displayed as Pokemon cards.



In response to this post, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted a GIF image of Pikachu with the text 'Border Patrol Rookie.'




Polygon, an overseas gaming media outlet, described the promotional video posted by DHS as 'an anachronistic video that combines arrests and house searches with children's cartoons.'

The video has also become a hot topic on the social message board Reddit , with critical comments such as 'I can't believe this group of idiots keeps finding new ways to commit crimes.'

On X, many comments were posted calling for legal action against Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.




Polygon pointed out that the Trump administration has been using copyrighted music from artists who do not want to be associated with the government without permission. In 2024, The White Stripes sued the Trump campaign's deputy communications director for using their song ' Seven Nation Army ' without permission, but the lawsuit was eventually dropped. In June 2025, DHS and CBP posted a promotional video on Instagram using another White Stripes song, ' We Are Going to Be Friends .'

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Walter N. Slosar (@usbpchiefept)




ICE received a budget increase under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which was enacted in July 2025. While the OBBBA was intended to investigate crimes, enforce immigration law, and maintain national security, it has frequently come under fire for its excessive use of force.

・Continued
The Pokémon Company says it does not allow the use of Pokémon in the US Department of Homeland Security's immigration crackdown promotional video.



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in Video,   Anime,   Free Member, Posted by logu_ii