ICE recruiting ads end on Spotify platform
By: Fernando Cervantes Jr.
USA today
..... Spotify is no longer running U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruiting advertisements on its platform - ads that had drawn criticism form listeners and political groups.
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In an emailed statement to USA today, Spotify confirmed the ICE recruiting advertising campaign ended at the conclusion of 2025.
..... "There are currently no ICE ads running on Spotify," the music streaming platform said. "The advertisements mentioned were part of a U.S. government recruitment campaign that ran across all major media and platforms. The campaign ended on most platforms and channels, including Spotify, at the end of last year." [2025]
..... The advertisement campaign on Spotify was part of Trump administration's $30 billion investment to hire 10,000 officers over the next four years.
..... The initiative followed the July 2025 spending package popularly known as the One Big Beautifl Bill Act. It gave ICE more funding in its budget than nearly all other federal law enforcement agencies combined - $75 billion over four years.
..... Amid the drive to hire more ICE agents, the federal agency ran advertisements on platforms such as Spotify, YouTube and Instagram. In addition to offering a $50,000 signing bonus, ICE's advertisements on the platforms include wartime-style posters and slogans such as "America needs you."
..... It was unclear if YouTube or Instagram was still running the advertisements on their platforms
..... USA Today contacted YouTube and Meta, the owner of Instagram, on January 9, [2026] but had not received a response as of press time.
..... ICE has recently been involved in two highly criticize shootings that have led government offices to tell ICE to leave their cities and states.
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The shooting on January 7 [2026] in Minneapolis resulted in the death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. She was shot in the head by an ICE officer identified in court documents as Jonathan Ross.
..... The January 8 [2026] shooting in Portland, Oregon, involved federal agents shooting and injuring Luis David Nico Moncada and Yorllenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras. Homeland Security alleged that both entered the country illegally and have ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
..... Although ICE's advertisements are now gone from Spotify, it "does not erase the damage done, and it does not absolve Spotify and other tech companies that take government money to promote recruitment for deportation machines," Ezra Levin, the co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, a progressive organization, said in a statement to USA Today.
..... "Accountability means ensuring these ads never return, increasing transparency around government advertising and committing to policies that do not enable violence against our communities," Levin said.