DHS condemns Houston Halloween display depicting hanging ICE agents
The Department of Homeland Security has criticized a Halloween display in Houston's Second Ward neighborhood that shows effigies of ICE agents hanging from gallows under a Mexican flag. The agency linked the display to rising threats against immigration officers and their families. DHS urged sanctuary politicians to reduce anti-ICE rhetoric amid a surge in assaults.
In Houston's predominantly Hispanic Second Ward neighborhood, a controversial Halloween setup has drawn national attention. Video footage reveals mannequins dressed in red hats, black shirts, khaki pants, and black masks, hanging from ropes on wooden gallows topped with a Mexican flag. The display includes coffins, barbed wire, and zip ties in the figures' pockets, resembling a mock execution ground for ICE agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The display emerged following a weekend of attacks on federal law enforcement officers by domestic terrorists, DHS stated on October 10, 2025. The agency reported a more than 1,000% increase in assaults against ICE officers, with their families facing doxxing and online threats. DHS condemned the setup and called on sanctuary politicians and media to tone down rhetoric against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel.
Specific threats highlighted by DHS include a Facebook message to an agent's spouse from Robert Buckley of Lakeville, Massachusetts: “Your husband, the ICE man is a f--- and retribution will come your way eventually.” Another call to a Texas ICE officer’s spouse warned: “I don’t know how you let your husband work for ICE, and you sleep at night. F--- you, f--- your family. I hope your kids get deported by accident. How do you sleep? F--- you. Did you hear what happened to the Nazis after World War II? Because it’s what’s going to happen to your family.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin described the threats as “disgusting” and emphasized the risks ICE officers face daily. “These officers risk their lives every day to arrest murderers, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists, and gang members from our communities. Comparing ICE day-in and day-out to the Nazi Gestapo, the Secret Police, and slave patrols has consequences,” she said. McLaughlin added, “The men and women of ICE and CBP are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer. Like everyone else, they just want to go home to their families at night. The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop.”