No bulba-sorry, here.
The Department of Homeland Security is not backing down after the owners of Pokémon pushed back against the Trump administration’s use of the song “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” in social media posts promoting ICE deportations.
“To arrest them is our real test. To deport them is our cause,” a DHS spokesperson told The Post on Thursday, a play on words referencing the chorus of the immortalized theme song.
The trolling reply came after the parent company of the Japanese company issued a statement denouncing the use of the children’s song in a video promoting arrests and deportations of illegal migrants.
“We are aware of a recent video posted by the Department of Homeland Security that includes imagery and language associated with our brand,” Pokémon Company International told The New York Times.
“Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property,” the statement concluded.
Both the official White House TikTok account and the Department of Homeland Security X account shared a one-minute video on Monday that spliced together live arrest footage with the main opening theme of the popular animated Pokémon show.
Footage of explosions, raids, and arrests conducted by ICE are edited together with clips of Pokémon protagonist Ash Ketchum from the iconic ‘90s theme song.
Gotta Catch ‘Em All. pic.twitter.com/qCvflkJGmB
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 22, 2025
The video ends with several mock-up Pokémon cards that showed photos of criminal illegal aliens and listed out their felonious crimes.
Charges against the deportees included murder, human smuggling, child molestation, pedophilia, and child endangerment. Those arrest cards were also featured in several individual posts on the DHS X account.
Both videos remain up on their respective platforms.
Pokémon Company International is a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, and manages the property outside of Asia including the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, and home entertainment, according to the company’s website.
Another video promoting deportations got the Department of Homeland Security in hot water earlier this week.
Comedian and podcaster Theo Von called out the agency for using one of his viral clips in which he said, “Heard you got deported dude. Bye,” The Hill reported.
The agency took that video down at Von’s request, according to that outlet.
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