Donald Trump signaled he’s on board with a proposed rebrand of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), backing the idea of renaming it National Immigration and Customs Enforcement — NICE — in Truth Social activity shared Monday, April 27.
The concept gained traction last month after right-wing influencer Alyssa Marie suggested the switch as a way to force a new shorthand into everyday coverage.
“I want Trump to change ICE to NICE (National Immigration and Customs Enforcement) so the media has to say NICE agents all day everyday,” Marie wrote.
Trump later amplified the post to his own Truth Social audience, adding his own enthusiastic endorsement.
“GREAT IDEA!!! DO IT. President DJT,”
The renewed attention arrives at a time when ICE remains intensely polarizing, with critics pointing to allegations of aggressive enforcement tactics and unlawful killings that have pushed public approval to new lows.
Funding is also a flashpoint. ICE falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the department’s finances have become a congressional battleground.
At the same time, Democrats have continued pressing for tighter limits on ICE’s authority, with some lawmakers calling for the agency to be dismantled outright. The debate has unfolded alongside the president’s mass deportation push and an expansion of funding during the Trump administration’s oversight.
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has been among the most outspoken critics of the possible name change, arguing that a new label wouldn’t address deeper concerns.
“A rebrand won’t distract us from the truth: this reprehensible agency murdered two Minnesotans in broad daylight.Abolish ICE”
The debate over branding comes shortly after ICE disclosed what it said was its 29th in-custody death since October—an annual total that would be the highest reported since the agency began operating in 2003, exceeding the prior record of 28 deaths during all of fiscal year 2004.
DHS has previously attributed the fatalities to the scale of detention operations—around 60,000 people held at the time—arguing the figure represents roughly 0.009% of those detained.
DHS has also emphasized the medical care provided to detainees awaiting removal.
‘the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.’
That claim is difficult to independently verify in a definitive way.
The most recent reported death occurred April 16 at a detention facility in Miami, Florida. Authorities said 27-year-old Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt was discovered dead in his cell by a federal officer, and the incident is being treated as a suspected self-harm case.
‘suicide attempt.’
Additional recent cases cited include a 19-year-old Mexican man whose death was reported as a suicide, and a 41-year-old Afghan man—described as having fought alongside U.S. troops—who died less than a day after being taken into custody.
In another incident earlier this year, a 55-year-old Cuban detainee at Camp East Montana was reported to have been killed while in custody.
DHS disputed that characterization, saying instead the man had been trying to take his own life and officers stepped in.
Separately, critics note that the 29-death figure does not account for deaths they describe as connected to ICE activity outside detention settings, including Alex Pretti and Renee Good, both killed within days of one another by federal agents in January.
Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot and killed on Jan. 24. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by ICE officer Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7. Both deaths were ruled homicides.
No criminal charges have been filed in connection with either shooting.