The White House posted a photoshopped image to its official X/Twitter account on Monday depicting the school bus from the PBS animated show "The Magic School Bus" while linking to a news story about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) arresting dozens of people in the Washington area.
The post was captioned "Please let this be a normal field trip..." while showing the teacher from the educational show, "Ms. Valerie Frizzle," the class mascot chameleon "Liz Ard," and five illegal immigrants aboard the iconic school bus, which was renamed "The Magic Deportation Bus."
"The Magic School Bus" was initially broadcast on PBS from September 1994 until October 1997, the public broadcaster's first fully animated TV show, and was nominated for several awards for its educational content and high-quality voice acting. It followed a fictional science class consisting of a teacher and eight schoolchildren from various ethnicities and backgrounds, exploring several science-themed topics by traveling on the "Magic School Bus," which was able to shrink and grow in size at will and could also travel through time and space.
White House's post with photoshopped image linked to Fox News article praising ICE raids near DC
The post was linked to a Fox News article also published Monday that discussed how ICE agents "quietly arrested more than 1,000 illegal immigrants" in the Washington area.
Federal sources cited by Fox also described it as "one of the agency's most successful operations to date."
The arrests of "1,328 illegal immigrants" took place over the first 14 days of August, including in Virginia and Maryland, "both of which have sanctuary-type policies in place," Fox noted, citing "multiple ICE sources" for the information.
"Almost 400" of those arrested "had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges," including a murder warrant, attempted murder, rape and other forms of sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery, and more.
ICE officers also arrested alleged members of the powerful MS-13 and Tren de Aragua cartels, and the 18th Street Gang, Fox noted.
Homeland Security secretary, ICE official praise immigration raids
"The brave men and women of ICE are hard at work every single day getting these dangerous illegal aliens out of our country," Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox.
"Over the course of just two weeks in Virginia and Maryland, they arrested sexual assailants, kidnappers, drunk drivers, robbers, and gang members," Mullin added.
"While sanctuary politicians in Virginia and Maryland keep putting the needs of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people, the Trump Administration will always put American citizens first," Mullin stated.
"By arresting and removing illegal aliens from our communities, we will make America safe again," he said.
"Our officers are the best in the world at finding people who do not want to be located," ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Acting Assistant Director Patricia Hyde said.
"That's exactly what we did throughout this operation," she added.
"Removing these criminal alien offenders from Virginia and Maryland neighborhoods makes for much safer communities, and that is exactly what the men and women of ICE work to accomplish every day across our great nation," Hyde stated.
The Department of Homeland Security also clarified that all those arrested will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the US, Fox reported.