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Comparing ICE to the Gestapo Reveals People's Fears for the US

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

A comparison between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Nazi Germany's notorious secret police, the Gestapo, has sparked controversy recently, with politicians like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz likening ICE to the Gestapo. While ICE has increased its nationwide arrests of immigrants since President Donald Trump returned to office, the Gestapo was responsible for suppressing all forms of political dissent, not just violations of immigration law. Despite the differences, politicians and the public regularly use Gestapo and Nazi metaphors to describe authoritarianism and police repression.

Key Takeaways:

  • ICE has more than doubled its arrests of immigrants in 38 states since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, with around 21,000 officers and staff operating in a country of more than 340 million.
  • The Gestapo, on the other hand, had between 40,000 and 50,000 personnel in a country of 79 million at its height between 1943 and 1945.
  • While ICE focuses on immigration, the Gestapo had a more expansive role, suppressing all forms of political dissent.
  • ICE operates with vastly more advanced technologies than the Gestapo, including facial recognition and social media monitoring.
  • Despite increased transparency around ICE's work, it was reclassified as a "security/sensitive agency" in June 2020, making it harder for people to request and receive information about ICE's work through Freedom of Information Act records requests.
  • Politicians and the public regularly use Gestapo and Nazi metaphors to describe authoritarianism and police repression, with mentions of the word Gestapo in social media increasing by 184% between 2017 and 2024.
  • The US Holocaust Memorial Museum has condemned making comparisons to the Holocaust and the Nazis for many reasons, including their historical inaccuracy and because they are insulting to people whose families remain scarred by the Holocaust.
  • Analogies can be useful for clarifying complex ideas, but they risk oversimplifying and trivializing history, especially when they stretch across decades and vastly different political contexts.
  • Politicians and other public figures often look to historical comparisons to modern law enforcement agencies that use severe tactics, but there is no shortage of options, including the Soviet Union's secret police agencies NKVD and KGB, Iran's former secret police and intelligence agency SAVAK, or East Germany's Stasi.

Statistics:

  • 340 million: the population of the United States, where ICE operates with around 21,000 officers and staff.
  • 79 million: the population of Germany at its height during World War II, where the Gestapo had between 40,000 and 50,000 personnel.
  • 38 states: the number of states where ICE has more than doubled its arrests of immigrants since President Donald Trump returned to office.
  • 184%: the increase in mentions of the word Gestapo in social media between 2017 and 2024.
  • 21,000: the number of officers and staff operating in ICE.
  • 40,000-50,000: the number of personnel in the Gestapo at its height during World War II.

Sources:

  • The Conversation -- USA -- By Daniel H. Magilow, Professor of German, University of Tennessee
  • The Conversation -- USA -- Comparing ICE to the Gestapo Reveals People's Fears for the US -- A Holocaust Scholar Explains Why Nazi Analogies Remain Common, Yet Risky
  • Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
  • Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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