{"id":143481,"date":"2026-02-04T15:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T15:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/143481\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T15:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T15:52:10","slug":"immigration-operation-names-draw-praise-and-anger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/143481\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration operation names draw praise and anger"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Operation Dirtbag<\/a> in Florida. Operation Catahoula Crunch,<\/a> also known as Swamp Sweep,<\/a> in Louisiana. Operation Catch of the Day<\/a> in Maine.<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security’s approach to naming immigrant enforcement operations, accompanied by a punchy, at times mocking tone in its official statements, elicits polarizing opinions: Are the names funny or offensive? Reactions often depend on political affiliation and support for the operations that largely target Black and brown communities.<\/p>\n

The names send a message that immigrants in the U.S. are \u201csub-human,\u201d Congressman Jimmy Gomez, a California Democrat, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why they have those disgusting names,\u201d said Gomez, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. Administration officials \u201cdon\u2019t even use that kind of language when they conduct operations across the globe dealing with some of the worst terrorists imaginable.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Congressman Brandon Gill believes the names demonstrate President Donald Trump is not joking about reining in illegal immigration and securing the border.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think all he\u2019s doing is letting them know we continue to be serious about that,\u201d the Texas Republican said. “We\u2019re serious about keeping the border secure. We\u2019re serious about deporting illegal aliens.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in a name?<\/p>\n

Historically, names for delicate U.S. military operations have not been catchy proper nouns but something benign. In war time, operation titles were names that could easily clue people in without drawing suspicion if overheard by spies or seen on paper, said Michael O\u2019Hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution and the author of several books on U.S. military history and defense strategy. He cited World War II-era plans such as Operation Market Garden and Operation Torch as examples.<\/p>\n

In the modern era, code names for operations are a chance for an administration to project an image of how a mission is going. For example, President George W. Bush often built operation names on themes of freedom. Operation names are also an opportunity to be a “victory dance.” The Trump administration named its lightning bombing campaign on Iran in 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when they know they\u2019re going to win and they want to brandish their political benefit, they\u2019ll sometimes use sort of a vainglorious name like \u2018absolute resolve,\u2019 which is just meant to convey this bravado,\u201d O\u2019Hanlon said. \u201cBut, if you\u2019re ever unsure of the prospects, you try to use a little bit more generic or nondescript name so that nobody can figure out what the mission\u2019s going to look like if they happen to hear about it beforehand.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the case of recent immigration raids, the names communicate \u201ctheir motivation, their purpose, and therefore, their justification,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The administration has also given immigration detention facilities<\/a> the same treatment, including ” Speedway Slammer<\/a> ” in Indiana, “Cornhusker Clink” in Nebraska, and ” Alligator Alcatraz<\/a> ” and ” Deportation Depot<\/a> ” in Florida. They’ve been the basis of Internet memes and online merchandise.<\/p>\n

“It seems like they’re just trying to market their detention centers<\/a> in a trolling type of way,” said Hector Diaz, a Miami immigration attorney who has represented over two dozen Hispanic clients detained in Florida.<\/p>\n

\u2018Racist and degrading\u2019 <\/p>\n

Operation Catch of the Day, which wrapped up in Maine last month<\/a>, immediately drew backlash from Democratic lawmakers when the name was first announced. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree called the branding “racist and degrading” to Mainers in general and the state’s immigrant communities in particular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sick joke,\u201d Pingree said in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Shenna Bellows, Maine’s Democratic secretary of state who is also running for governor, denounced \u201cthe grotesquely named operation,\u201d warning the Trump administration’s actions and messaging have chilled business and civic life in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen ICE agents are patrolling the streets and arresting and imprisoning people, wrongly, then people are afraid to go out,\u201d Bellows told AP.<\/p>\n

State Democratic Sen. Joe Baldacci agreed: \u201cThis isn\u2019t a special on a restaurant menu. This is people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters argue flippant names show Trump is serious<\/p>\n

Immigration operation names have also received backlash for taking inspiration from pop culture. In November, the Trump administration played on the popular 1952 children’s book “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White<\/a> when it launched an immigration sweep in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the same title. Martha White said the author, her grandfather, would have hated the reference because he “believed in the rule of law and due process.”<\/p>\n

The names persevere, even after some Trump officials signaled federal agents’ conduct could be restrained following the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good<\/a> and Alex Pretti<\/a> in Minnesota and allegations of other misconduct<\/a> by federal immigration officers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some of the president\u2019s supporters have dismissed criticism of the Trump administration’s rhetoric as sidestepping the substance of the immigration debate.<\/p>\n

Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, said in an email that “to whine about the name of the operation is an absurd distraction from the absolute disaster<\/a> these same Democrats have allowed to occur across Maine.”<\/p>\n

During Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ Maine State of the State address a week ago, she slammed ICE agents for trying to “intimidate and silence” communities. Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, a Republican, responded by calling for greater support for longtime residents over newer arrivals to the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of care and support, of course, around new Mainers, but the one thing I don\u2019t see is people standing up for old Mainers and standing up for the people of Maine that have been here and are from here,” Faulkingham said last month during the Maine operation.<\/p>\n

Congressional Democrats<\/a> have promised investigations into the conduct of<\/a> and potential abuses<\/a> by Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> and Border Patrol<\/a> officers, and have vowed to investigate the agency’s rhetoric and social media posts should they win control of either chamber<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n

The operation names are only adding to the damage caused by the administration\u2019s \u201cunconstitutional racial profiling and reckless, unaccountable enforcement tactics,\u201d said Debu Gandhi, senior director of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica can have a secure border and effective immigration enforcement without the type of lawless cruelty and chaos we\u2019ve seen from Trump,\u201d Gandhi said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Tang reported from Phoenix.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story has been correct to remove erroneous information. Congresswoman Chellie Pingree is not running for governor of Maine. Her daughter, Hannah Pingree, is.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 Operation Dirtbag in Florida. Operation Catahoula Crunch, also known as Swamp Sweep, in Louisiana. Operation Catch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[477,1841,69628,116,118,117,99,1431,1110,4147],"class_list":["post-143481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-general-news","tag-immigration","tag-immigration-enforcement-operation-names","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-politics","tag-race-and-ethnicity","tag-u-s-news","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}