Cyber Monday: ICE Posts Photo of Destroyed Laptop and Twitter Is Not Happy

After U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) left warnings on social media not to “get fleeced by fakes” on Cyber Monday, Twitter users were not happy. Some accused the government agency of “trying to distract the general public from their horrific abuse of refugee children in their custody” and others criticized it for “ignoring questions about children refugees who were … victims of sexual abuse in their detention facilities.”

One of the posts from ICE included a photo of a smashed laptop computer and warned against buying “counterfeit stuff,” saying that “counterfeit electronics can overheat & explode,” that “fake bike helmets can break on impact” and that “phony cosmetics can cause skin issues.”

“Seasonal items like holiday lights can be poorly wired and ignite fires,” the tweet continued.

Another tweet offered tips from the Homeland Security Investigations arm of ICE, such as “If the price is too good to be true, it probably is” and “Beware of websites that have unusual addresses or lack contact info.”

“Another red flag — websites that offer models/designs not offered elsewhere,” the tweet read.

When some Twitter users thanked the agency for the advice, one user wrote, “Thank [ICE] for facilitating sexual abuse of refugee children in their detention camps? Absolutely not.”

ICE has been a hot topic of debate among Americans after photos and video of refugee children inside the camps made headlines amid President Donald Trump’s tough enforcements at the U.S.-Mexico border. Last week, it was reported that ICE set up a fake university to snare foreign students they believed were trying to stay in the country illegally.

The fake university, The University of Farmington in Michigan, collected thousands of dollars in tuition from the students but held no actual classes. The students had come into the United States legally under F-1 visas and needed to stay enrolled in school to keep those visas.

Those hundreds of students were arrested by ICE for violating the terms of their visas, which mandate that they be enrolled full-time at a federally accredited educational institution while they completed their studies.

The federal government says that the sole purpose of the students was to commit immigration fraud. The students say they were entrapped. The university appeared on the Homeland Security website as a legitimate university. And while Farmington was created under the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration upped the ante by paying recruiters to pitch Farmington to students in danger of deportation.

Photo credit: Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor / Getty