The Trump administration is planning a $50 million ad blitz to support Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem‘s mass deportation campaign after she was brutally roasted on South Park.
Noem, dubbed “ICE Barbie” by her detractors, has been criticized for publicity stunts where she dresses up as a federal immigration agent. But Comedy Central’s South Park took it to a new level, portraying her as a Botox-filled puppy killer.
The DHS had budgeted as much as $200 million for an ad campaign to support the Trump administration’s mass migrant deportation effort, according to a February Semafor report.
In an initial ad, Noem told the world, “If you come to our country and you break our laws, we will hunt you down. Criminals are not welcome in the United States.”
On Monday, the agency pleaded $20 to $50 million of taxpayer dollars for an “International Campaign Follow-On” to the “Stronger Border, Stronger America” ads, The Daily Beast reported, citing DHS records.
The new pledge in ad money comes after a South Park episode last week, in which an animated Noem’s face melted off, and another character said, “Your Botox, Ms. Noem!”
A DHS spokesperson denied there was a link between Noem’s recent bad press and the new ad spending.
“To the Daily Beast’s chagrin, these ads are working, and illegal aliens are leaving in droves,” the spokesperson told The Independent.
While the episode was a success for the show, drawing in a record 6.2 million viewers across cable and streaming, Noem wasn’t happy about it.
She said in an interview on “The Glenn Beck Program” podcast, although she hadn’t seen the episode, “It’s so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look. Only the liberals and the extremists do that.”
In an unaired post-credits scene, South Park posted to X Monday, Noem is shown entering a pet store and opening fire on the puppies. It seemingly referenced Noem’s admission in her 2024 book “No Going Back” of killing her “untrainable” dog Cricket decades ago.
The DHS spokesperson touted Noem’s achievements as Homeland Security Secretary.
“Just yesterday, Secretary Noem announced 1.6 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. This data reveals the world is hearing Secretary Noem’s message loud and clear: if you are in America illegally, leave now or face arrest, deportation and fines,” the spokesperson said.
DHS says it is being thorough in its ad rollout.
“This series of ads will run on radio, broadcast, and digital, in multiple countries and regions in various dialects,” the spokesperson said. “Ads will be hyper-targeted, including through social media, text message and digital to reach illegal immigrants in the interior of the United States, as well as internationally.”
