Campaigns demand Spotify, Univision and Telemundo to stop recruiting ICE agents and promote deportations

As the immigration raids and kidnappings of so-called federal officers intensify across the nation, so do the pro-immigrant advocacy efforts. For the past few weeks, different groups have been demanding streaming services like Spotify and broadcast media companies like Univision and Telemundo to terminate all advertising contracts with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

For Spotify, the public demands started after subscribers realized the platform was running ads recruiting people to become ICE agents and offering them $50,000 bonus and student loan repayment options. 

In late October, the coalition Indivisible – focused on electing progressive leaders – sent a letter to Spotify highlighting their concerns of the ads that intend to expand the agency’s secret policy capacity to continue “terrorizing communities across the country.”

In the letter, Indivisible demanded that Spotify immediately terminate all advertising contracts with ICE and DHS and agree to a public commitment to reviewing and updating Spotify’s Advertising Policy to prohibit government propaganda and hate-based recruitment ad campaigns. 

“At a time when ICE is executing an agenda of intimidation, mass raids and fear, particularly in immigrant and working-class communities, Spotify’s decision to profit from this recruitment campaign risks normalizing government propaganda and aligning your brand with authoritarian tactics,” states the letter. 

The letter was sent on Oct. 23, 2025 and there hasn’t been a response yet. 

On Wednesday and Thursday, members of Media City Indivisibles, East Valley Indivisibles, and Los Angeles residents protested outside Spotify’s Los Angeles Headquarters, in the Arts District.

The activists protested with the slogan of “Don’t Stream Fascism: Cancel Spotify,” holding signs letting people know why they should cancel the stream service. 

Tracy Held, member of East Valley Indivisibles, said they participated in the protest because Spotify headquarters is just about a mile and half away from the Fashion District, location where one of the worst raids happened in early June. 

“That’s where a lot of community members and local businesses have been harassed and kidnapped,” she said. “And we feel that a lot of people are putting their money into Spotify and are not aware that they are supporting this (ICE recruitment).”

Kathy Gardener, another protestor, said she is very upset to know about the tactics DHS is using to continue terrorizing families. She also said it is inconceivable to imagine people could sign up for a job that will consist of running after people and breaking up families. 

“There are ways you can go about immigration reform without using cruelty,” she said. “[Spotify] gets about 90% of their money from subscriptions, they don’t need these ads.”

While Spotify didn’t respond directly to CALÓ News, in previous public messages the company has stated that the content “does not violate the company's advertising policies.” Spotify said users can provide ad feedback via the thumbs up/down feature to manage preferences.

Petition against Univision and Telemundo

The other targeted media outlets are Univision and Telemundo. Both have been playing anti-immigrant ads during commercial breaks. 

In order to bring awareness and create a change to these actions, there is a petition created by the organization Mijente that is promoting the campaign “Apaga el odio” which accuses Univision and Telemundo of betraying the same communities they serve.

Mijente is calling out both networks for supporting anti-immigrant ads demanding undocumented people “to leave the country immediately.”

In the ads, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem encourages people to self-deport through the Custom and Border Protection (CBP) app. For those who don’t leave, Noem says on the ads, “we [ICE] will find you and deport you.” 

The anti-immigrant ads are part of a $200 million national campaign that started in March. 

The petition states that these Spanish-language networks promote the same anti-immigrant agenda “pushed by the Trump administration and only create fear, uncertainty in our households and communities.”

The petition, which was made public at the beginning of the week had more than 3,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon. 

CALÓ News tried to obtain comments from DHS, Univision and Telemundo, but hasn’t received any response yet.