Just a few hours ago, an image appeared on the official X account of the US Department of Homeland Security (@DHSgov): Four alligators lined up in formation, each wearing a cap with the white letters "ICE" - the acronym of the notorious Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. In the background: barbed wire, watchtowers, prison architecture. Above it all, just two words: "Coming soon!" What is being sold here as a PR stunt or cynical self-irony is in truth an alarming testament to the complete unmooring of state power fantasies. A state that symbolizes its instruments of repression with predators dressed in uniform accessories is not only abandoning decency but also its democratic self-image. The United States, once a land of hope for the persecuted, now presents itself as a nation of teeth and claws - ready to bite. This staging is no accident. It fits seamlessly into a series of events that, under President Trump, have become bitter reality. The militarization of the border, the construction of camps in swamp lands ("Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida says hello), the deportation of vulnerable individuals to dictatorships and war zones - all of this is now being illustrated with reptiles. As if the goal were not just to spread fear but to revel in one’s own brutality.
The political message is clear: whoever comes will be devoured. The alligators - those primeval creatures without mercy - are apparently meant to represent the new face of migration policy. It is a profoundly dehumanizing narrative - not only toward migrants but also toward the officers themselves, who are portrayed through this symbolism as instinct-driven beasts. ICE is being turned into a monster - and very deliberately so. A ministry that publishes images like this has lost all sense of proportion. This is no longer about law and order, but about spectacle and intimidation. About the calculated destruction of empathy. About a politics that no longer legitimizes itself through laws, but through memes, myths, and displays of power. But it is not a footnote. A state that begins to portray its coercive power with predators has crossed a dangerous threshold - the point at which violence is no longer hidden but proudly displayed. The point at which the state no longer appears as a guarantor of security, but as a self-righteous avenger - a Leviathan in a leather cap. The ironically intended caption - "Coming soon!"
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