FROM THE OUTSIDE | Image, image, image...

Por

José Carreño Figueras

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Publicado: 30/1/2025 · 10:28 a.m. MX | Actualizado: 30/1/2025 · 10:28 a.m. MX

Claiming that U.S. politics relies on images is as obvious as stating that the sun rises daily.

In this situation, don’t be surprised if, in the coming days, you notice images of U.S. immigration or police officers prominently posing for photographers as they arrest undocumented immigrants, who might be criminals but likely are not.

Ultimately, agents will aim to pose and perhaps even “dress for the cameras,” as directed by President Donald Trump’s administration, to demonstrate their commitment to fulfilling the promise of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants.

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According to reports, the Trump administration has instructed its agents to make sure their uniforms clearly display the law enforcement agency they are affiliated with, in case members of the media record footage of them.

The reason is simple: images are often the only things that viewers remember. The sight of agents wearing the insignia of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Border Patrol, Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Marshals, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tends to linger in the minds of witnesses, readers, or viewers.

These images will eclipse the unavoidable failures of the mass deportation policy.

Lesley Stahl, the veteran CBS correspondent, reflects on this experience. She produced a particularly critical report while covering Ronald Reagan’s White House in the 1980s. However, instead of facing backlash from presidential officials, she felt gratified: the images that accompanied the text showed Reagan smiling, surrounded by people and American flags. They conveyed to her that the image is what matters.

The directive to “dress for the cameras” carries meanings that go beyond merely making agents look presentable for a task that, if done poorly, could evoke memories of “pogroms,” historical actions aimed at “cleansing” towns or cities of Jews in Russia.

Migrants are indeed used as “scapegoats”; numerous studies indicate that immigrants commit far fewer crimes per capita than the general population.

In the past, being filmed by news outlets suggested that agents adhered to all legal protocols and refrained from any visible mistreatment during arrests. Now, the emphasis shifts more toward how they engage with and carry out President Trump’s plans.

After all, a directive was issued over the weekend to raise the daily quota of deportation arrests to 1,500.

José Carreño Figueras