‘A mask can’t hide you from God’: can you shame an ICE agent into quitting?

A federal agent stands in a hallway to prevent members of the media from going past a certain point in the Jacob K Javits Federal Building in New York, on 17 July 2025. Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

In November 2025, a TV ad began running in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Palm Beach, Florida.

In it, a little girl with blond hair in a ponytail lies on her belly, working on a coloring book. A nearby TV blares with images of immigrants being brutalized by ICE agents. The front door opens and the girl bounces up, rushing over to hug her father and asks: “Daddy, how was your day?” while the camera reveals ICE insignia on his shirtsleeve. The voiceover begins: “A mask can’t hide you from your neighbors, your children and God. You can walk away, before the shame follows you home.”