The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), headed by Kristi Noem, promised “the peace of a nation no longer besieged by the third world” in the agency’s controversial New Year’s Eve message.
Next to the publication on the agency’s X account there was a painting from the series Beachcomber, by Hiroshi Nagai, which showed a car parked on the beach as a giant wave rushed toward the shore. The agency also added text to the image: “United States after 100 million deportations.”
The government’s outrageous suggestion that almost a third of a country with more than 340 million people could be deported quickly sparked outrage. Nagai, for his part, became the latest artist to accuse Donald Trump’s government of copying works and adapting them to spread a political message without authorization.
“The image is being used without permission,” the 79-year-old Japanese artist wrote to his followers on social media. “What should I do about it?”
In response to a request for comment on the artist’s complaint, a DHS spokesperson told The Independent that the agency “will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to keep the American people informed as our agents work to make America safe again.”
The Independent has sought comment from representatives for Nagai, who is among several artists, editors and media personalities, from Sabrina Carpenter to Thomas Kinkade, who have criticized the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration in recent months for unauthorized adaptations of his work.
In July, Kinkade’s family foundation lamented the Department of Homeland Security’s “unauthorized” use of its Morning Pledge and “the sentiment expressed in the post and the deplorable actions that DHS continues to take.”
DHS also used a painting by Morgan Weistling depicting a white frontier family to tell Americans, “Remember the heritage of your homeland.”
“Attention: DHS’s recent social media post using a piece of work of mine that I painted a few years ago was used without my permission,” Weistling wrote on his website in response.
In the following months, federal agencies received similar complaints from podcaster Theo Von, Pokemon, the band MGMT, country singer Zach Bryan, and children’s book publishers. Franklin the Turtle, inter alia.
“This video is evil and disgusting,” Carpenter wrote on X after the White House used his song Juno to promote the president’s anti-immigration agenda. “Never involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
The administration’s aggressive use of memes and generative AI material to promote mass deportations on the government’s official social media accounts has embraced the “edgy” humor of Generation Z by drawing on a wide range of memes and material from far-right and Christian nationalist sectors of the Internet.
That includes covers of Japanese pop art by artists like Nagai and memes composed by Japanese urban pop, which has seen a resurgence among younger audiences for its nostalgic, synth-driven sounds.