sa国际传媒官网网页入口

SACRAMENTO, Calif. 鈥� U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is spending millions of dollars on television advertising in select metro areas around the country, an Associated Press tally found, aimed at recruiting local officers frustrated with their cities鈥� restrictions on into President Donald Trump鈥檚 .

鈥淵ou took an oath to protect and serve, to keep your family, your city, safe,鈥� the narrator says, as images of the cities targeted and ICE agents arresting people move across the screen. 鈥淏ut in sanctuary cities, you鈥檙e ordered to stand down while dangerous illegals walk free.鈥�

The campaign 鈥� airing in more than a dozen cities, including Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta and sa国际传媒官网网页入口 鈥� is part of ICE鈥檚 $30 billion initiative to hire 10,000 more deportation officers by the end of the year to supercharge deportations. The money is part of for ICE 鈥� a 10-fold increase in its current budget 鈥� as part of the sweeping, multitrillion-dollar enacted in July.

ICE is already offering and other benefits such as tuition reimbursement as it seeks to fast-track hiring.

And while some parts of the federal government are as the result of Congress鈥� failure to pass a spending measure last week, the ICE ads reflect that the push for mass deportations, the Trump administration鈥檚 top priority, is still flush with cash.

Millions spent on the 30-second ads

The ads open with video of each metro鈥檚 familiar skyline and the narrator鈥檚 voice announcing, for example, 鈥淎ttention, Miami law enforcement.鈥� Beyond that, the spots are identical, inviting officers to 鈥渏oin ICE and help us catch the worst of the worst. Drug traffickers. Gang members. Predators,鈥� according to a review of the ads on the ad-tracking service AdImpact.

The 30-second spots began running in mid-September in sa国际传媒官网网页入口; Boston; Chicago; Denver; New York; Philadelphia; Sacramento, California; Seattle; and Washington, D.C. Adding to the list a week ago: Atlanta; Dallas; El Paso, Texas; Houston; Miami; Salt Lake City; and San Antonio.

As of Monday, total spending on the ads had topped $6.5 million, with the most spent since mid-September being $853,745 in the Seattle area. However, Atlanta saw the most in the past week, more than $947,000, according to AdImpact.

It was unclear why ICE targeted those locations and not others. There is no standard definition of what is a sanctuary jurisdiction although it generally refers to cities or states that limit their cooperation with ICE. Some but not all of the cities appear on a Justice Department list of cities that

Asked in an AP email to explain why specific areas were chosen as advertising targets, Department of Homeland Security officials declined to provide an explanation. Instead, they replied with a Sept. 16 press release, near the beginning of the ad campaign, reporting that it had received more than 150,000 applications and had extended 18,000 tentative job offers.

Some cities where the ads have been playing, particularly Boston and Chicago, have been repeatedly criticized by the Trump administration for their policies that limit how much they can work with federal immigration enforcement. ICE has in both of those cities. Local officials in Chicago have been particularly outspoken against the stepped-up enforcement.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 is among the smallest metropolitan areas where the ads are airing, though the city鈥檚 mayor, Tim Keller, has been a vocal opponent of the Trump administration鈥檚 immigration policy. In July, Keller signed an executive order barring city employees from assisting federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement 鈥渦nless legally required.鈥�

Local police can鈥檛 compete with ICE promises

The AP reached out to police departments in areas where the ads were running. Most departments either did not respond or said they did not comment on actions of outside agencies. A few, including Sacramento and Miami, said they had not noticed any of their officers leaving for positions at ICE or DHS.

Four of the markets where the ads are playing are in Texas, including San Antonio.

Danny Diaz, the president of the city鈥檚 Police Officers Association, said he鈥檇 seen the ads and was concerned about prospective recruits who might be thinking of joining the city鈥檚 police department joining ICE instead.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 compete with a $50,000 signing bonus,鈥� Diaz said. 鈥淚 do think that the younger generation will jump on that.鈥�

The government shutdown could dampen ICE鈥檚 recruitment hopes, he said.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e furloughing federal employees, and I don鈥檛 think individuals want to leave one department to go work for a federal agency when they don鈥檛 know if they鈥檙e going to receive a check or not,鈥� he said, referring to the lapse in funding that has led to federal law enforcement officers going without pay.

Philadelphia police Capt. John Walker said it鈥檚 too early to tell whether the ad campaign has had an impact on the city鈥檚 recruiting. Instead, he suggested, the ads appeared more geared toward reassuring viewers that the Trump administration was addressing illegal immigration.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the psychological feel. You want to know that there are cops out there because it makes you feel good,鈥� said Walker, who鈥檚 in charge of Philadelphia police recruiting. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 all this is, strengthening the belief that they鈥檙e doing something.鈥�

The ad blitz comes as law enforcement departments around the country are struggling to meet staffing demands.