On September 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unleashed a social media firestorm after posting a video that compared immigration raids to the beloved act of catching Pokémon. The video, which quickly amassed more than 30 million views on X (formerly Twitter) and another 3.8 million on TikTok, was captioned with the iconic phrase, "Gotta Catch 'Em All." But instead of charming pocket monsters, the targets were individuals arrested in recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
The clip, shared from both the DHS X account and the official White House TikTok, was a surreal mashup of pop culture and government enforcement. It spliced footage of ICE agents handcuffing people with scenes from the Pokémon anime, including Ash Ketchum tossing Poké Balls. At the video’s conclusion, viewers were presented with mock Pokémon cards—each card depicted a person arrested, their alleged crime, nationality, and a “weakness” symbolized by an ice emoji (a double entendre referencing both Pokémon types and ICE itself). The "retreat" stat on these cards? An airplane, a none-too-subtle nod to deportation flights.
According to Metro, the video included references to serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter, human smuggling, child molestation, and paedophilia. The explicit listing of these offenses, paired with the playful Pokémon motif, struck many as tone-deaf and deeply unsettling. The Trump administration’s hardline immigration stance was unmistakable, but the delivery method—using a family-friendly children’s franchise—sparked outrage across the political spectrum.
Fans and critics alike were quick to call out the U.S. government for what they saw as unauthorized use of Pokémon intellectual property. Nintendo, which owns one-third of the Pokémon copyright and trademark through The Pokémon Company (alongside Game Freak and Creatures), is notoriously protective of its brand. As Metro noted, Nintendo had recently won lawsuits against piracy and trademark infringement, including a $2 million settlement from Switch modder Ryan Daley and a successful case against accessory maker Genki for infringing on the company’s trademarks. The company’s website explicitly states that fan art is only permitted for personal, noncommercial use—a far cry from a government propaganda campaign.
Dozens of social media users, some tagging Nintendo and The Pokémon Company directly, demanded to know whether the companies had authorized the use of their characters and music. As of September 23, 2025, neither Nintendo nor The Pokémon Company had issued a public statement. According to The Independent, Metro, and Latin Times, both companies were contacted for comment but had yet to respond.
The legal implications aside, the video’s content and tone drew immediate condemnation from advocacy groups, legal experts, and the general public. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, pointed out that one of the raids depicted in the video involved a home where "multiple U.S. citizens lived." He wrote on X, “They were never shown a warrant and were handcuffed and led out the shattered door into the light of the fleet of cameras Kristi Noem brought to the raid for PR.” Reichlin-Melnick’s criticism highlighted not just the questionable use of copyrighted material, but also the aggressive tactics used in the raids themselves.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had previously shared similar dramatized enforcement footage, including a highlight reel set to a remix of Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit." According to The Independent, the DHS denied any wrongdoing in the controversial raid, stating, “No US citizen was arrested, they were briefly held for their and officers’ safety while the operation in the house was underway.” Nevertheless, the optics of the situation—heavily armed agents, a blown-in door, and citizens handcuffed for the cameras—became fodder for critics who accused the administration of prioritizing public relations over due process.
The backlash wasn’t limited to legal and advocacy circles. Scottish novelist Ewan Morrison described the campaign as "a new example of the political aesthetic we know as Cute Authoritarianism." Attorney Robert Freund, referencing one of the mock Pokémon cards that depicted an alleged sexual predator, quipped, “I don’t get the Pokémon theme here. The government is collecting and training sex offenders and making them stronger? Why?” The attempt at humor or relatability, many argued, fell flat—if not outright offensive—when paired with grave subject matter.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), not to be left out, joined the social media fray by replying to the original video thread with a GIF of Pikachu dancing, dubbing the character "Border Patrol’s newest recruit." The use of a cartoon mascot to represent border enforcement only deepened the sense of surrealism for many observers.
This isn’t the first time DHS has leaned on pop culture for its messaging. In July 2025, the agency posted an image mimicking the moonlit bicycle scene from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, urging migrants to use the CBP Home app to “phone home” and return to their countries. That campaign, too, was met with skepticism and criticism from immigrant advocates, who argued that the app was fraught with barriers and delays.
Underlying the public’s outrage is a broader debate about the use of government social media for propaganda, especially when it intersects with beloved children’s franchises. Some see it as a lighthearted way to reach a younger audience or make complex policy more accessible. Others argue it trivializes serious issues—like immigration enforcement, due process, and family separation—and risks turning real-world suffering into a meme.
There’s also the very real question of copyright law. According to Nintendo’s own published guidelines, “A copyright is an exclusive right granted to a creator… giving the creator the sole right to reproduce exact or derivative copies, and access, display, perform, transmit or otherwise distribute that work.” The Pokémon Company’s stance is similarly clear: fan art is permitted only on a personal, noncommercial basis. Government use for enforcement propaganda is, to put it mildly, a legal gray area—one that Nintendo’s famously aggressive legal team may not let slide.
As of September 23, 2025, the fate of the video—and whether Nintendo or The Pokémon Company will pursue legal action—remains uncertain. But the uproar has already achieved something rare: uniting Pokémon fans, immigration advocates, copyright lawyers, and casual observers in a shared sense of bewilderment and discomfort. Whether this episode marks a turning point in how federal agencies use pop culture for public messaging, or simply another viral controversy soon to be forgotten, is anyone’s guess. For now, the only thing everyone seems to agree on is that Pikachu probably never signed up for this.
