Last time that the Department of Homeland Security used a video game property to try and recruit people to ICE, it was with a Pokémon video in which they said they were going to “catch” undocumented people while the original anime’s theme song played over footage of ICE agents invading homes and arresting people. The Pokémon Company didn’t do anything about it, so I guess whoever’s on the DHS’ social accounts is feeling brave enough to keep using video game imagery to try and promote ICE and recruit people to its cause, because it’s now using Halo imagery and language days after Halo Studios announced the original game is being remade and ported to PlayStation.
Finishing this fight. pic.twitter.com/6Ezq9NUqMq
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 27, 2025
The post on the DHS’ X account has an image of Halo characters on a Warthog with the subtitle “Finishing this fight,” a reference to the line from Halo 2 in which protagonist Master Chief says he’s “finishing this fight” with the Covenant by blowing up their ship at the end of the sequel. The image itself has the text “Destroy the Flood,” which refers to a parasitic alien species that Master Chief and his friends fight throughout the series, just above a link to the ICE recruitment website. The rhetoric is not subtle.
The replies are full of the same memetic bullshit you often see on such posts that shows some people view uprooting other people’s lives (or worse) as something to cheer for and encourage the way you might celebrate a sports team’s championship win. The broader context of the Trump Administration using Xbox and Microsoft’s imagery for a stupid recruitment ad, however, shows the rot runs much deeper. Notably, Microsoft has donated to Trump and his causes during his presidency, including the ongoing demolition of the White House’s East Wing and his inauguration fund, likely to garner his support on issues like artificial intelligence. That’s not entirely surprising given the company’s political history, as Microsoft has reportedly made efforts to erase its own diversity initiatives and inadequately responded to right-wing attacks on reproductive rights in the eyes of some of its workers.
The Halo post from DHS came just hours after GameStop and the Trump Administration went back and forth with console war memes that also used Halo characters.
Update, 10/27/25, 4 p.m. Eastern: Microsoft has declined to comment on the matter.
