An email from Trump’s leadership political action committee, “Never Surrender,” says Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will “track down” recipients if they don’t fill out a “Citizens Only Survey” — and they have to donate to submit it.
The fundraising email sent Tuesday comes just days after federal immigration enforcement agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, on Saturday. His death followed the Jan. 7 shooting death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
“Are you a proud American Citizen or does ICE need to come and track you down?” reads the email, with the subject line, “Are you an illegal alien?”
“This is your FINAL MOMENT to Prove me wrong,” the email continues. “Please.”
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Trump’s leadership PAC has received coverage for what critics call “manipulative fundraising” tactics. In them, Trump has teased rebate checks from DOGE cuts. On Monday, the group sent an email asking recipients to verify the spelling of their name “before I sign your name on your Tariff Check” — one of multiple emails to the same effect sent this month.
But some critics from D.C. watchdog groups called the ICE email particularly troubling.
“Fundraising pleas frequently use fear to motivate donors to open their wallets, but this solicitation takes that mantra to new and unsettling heights,” wrote Michael Beckel, senior research director at the nonprofit organization Issue One, in a statement to NOTUS.
“No citizen should worry that if they don’t give money to a political candidate, then federal agents could be coming for them,” Beckel continued.
That is not to say it’s illegal. Lisa Gilbert, copresident of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, called the fundraising appeal “tone-deaf” and “chilling,” but said the appeal didn’t raise any legal concerns.
“It shows a deep lack of respect for the loss of life, as well as a willful disregard for the mood of the nation,” Gilbert wrote in an email. “Poll after poll shows that Americans know that ICE has gone too far in their profiling, violence, and warrantless forced entry, and this flippant reference and appeal to raise money following tragedy is abhorrent.”
The consulting firm that represents the PAC, according to its Federal Election Commission filings, did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did the White House.
The email says it is from “Donald J. Trump.” At the bottom of the email, it states the message was paid for by Never Surrender, Inc., Trump’s current political vehicle of choice and the direct successor committee to his presidential campaign committee.
Clicking the “TAKE CITIZENS ONLY SURVEY” button directs recipients to a web form that asks viewers about their citizenship. The “illegal alien” option directs respondents to “END SURVEY IMMEDIATELY.”
It asks for other demographic information, such as region and age, but the “male or female” question has a third option: “I’M INSANE.”
“Do you believe that every illegal immigrant should be deported?” the survey also asks, with options “YES - THEY ALL BROKE THE LAW” and “NO.”
To submit the form, you must pay at least $26, with donation options extending up to $3,300. There’s also an option to make it a monthly recurring donation.
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