Trump backs proposal to rename ICE as 'NICE'

Issued on: 30/04/2026 - FRANCE24

04:20 min From the show

What started out as a joke on social media has now got the US president's backing. Donald Trump says he supports the idea of changing the name of Immigration and Customs Enforcement – or ICE – to a new acronym, "NICE". This comes as the US immigration agency continues to face mounting scrutiny over its operations, funding and record-high deaths of detainees in its custody.


A month ago, conservative influencer Alyssa Dehen posted on social media that she wants Trump to rename ICE as the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so that "the media has to say NICE agents all day every day."

Weeks later, the US president reshared her post, responding "GREAT IDEA!!! DO IT." Soon after his online backing, the official social media accounts of the White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) both used this proposed name change on their accounts, captioning posts "ICE is NICE".

However, in order to make this change a legal one, the DHS would have to submit the proposed name change to Congress for approval, where a law would then have to be passed amending the legislation that created ICE within the Department of Homeland Security. This would require updating regulations, contracts and budgets and likely cost millions of dollars.

Though it's true that Trump has endorsed this viral idea online, it's unclear how far it will be pursued at this stage.

That said, his administration has already pushed to rename various other elements. Trump signed executive orders to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War (used by his administration, though not yet codified), and changed the name Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

This new initiative comes as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is under mounting scrutiny. Earlier this month, ICE reported its 29th death of a detainee in custody since October, the highest record of deaths in custody since the agency's establishment in 2003.

Vedika Bahl explains what we know in Truth or Fake.