A Comedian Made a Fake ICE Tip Line. The Calls Were Terrifying

[ihaveaquestion]

Feb 23, 2026 Bulwark Takes
Sam Stein is joined by Drew Harwell of The Washington Post to talk about his reporting on one of the most disturbing viral stories of the year. Ben Palmer, a Nashville comedian, set up a fake ICE deportation tip line and watched as Americans flooded it with calls. The callers weren’t trolls. They were neighbors, coworkers, even a kindergarten teacher, calmly trying to get families deported. What began as a prank by Palmer turned into a horrifying window into people's worst instincts.

[Bluepinky]

1. What a sad, disturbing story.

[MadameButterfly]

2. Wow. I really didn't think there were people outside of ICE out there

wishing to deport people who weren't the worst of the worst. OK, some. But a kindergarten teacher? And people trust her with their kids?

Or at least, I thought many who were for it in theory wouldn't be able to face the reality of it in person, much less be responsible for deporting someone they know. I guess I'm in my own bubble. America really did ask for this.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. Secret police aren't evil geniuses. They rely on everyday people who are more than happy to help.

[evolves]

4. "Good Germans"

aka: terrified little bigots

[William Seger]

5. Demagogues prey on resentment as much as they do fear

"Illegal immigrants" are somehow taking away something that belongs to them.

[groundloop]

6. EXACTLY. The ruling class relies on fear and hatred to conquer and divide.

While people are preoccupied hating others who don't look like them the ruling class is busy picking their pockets.

[BidenRocks]

7. There seems to be a solid 35%

Who is so ideologically deranged, they will vote in spite of anything beneficial to our country.

These are the Bitchers and Blamers! They know nothing besides the propaganda fed to them be RWN and their radios. On Sunday they go to church and have their RW Jesus beliefs validated by a RW nut job Priest who does not believe in separation. So his sermon starts the week, getting them outraged.

It's how they live and they are a part of US.

VOTE like your country depends on it!

It does!

[erronis]

9. We're accepting these numbers like 35%. But I would question how they are reached.

It rarely wavers. Perhaps the "polls" are always questioning the same X users?

[Lonestarblue]

8. If you can convince people that they are victims wronged by other people, they will support punishing those people.

The genius of Trump and the Republican Party has been to turn certain segments of our society into feeling like victims who have been taken advantage of by other groups. I remember a poll taken in Texas a few years back in which evangelical Christians fully supported the notion that they were the most persecuted people in the country and their freedom of religion was being taken away from them.

Right-wing white people have been convinced that they are the victims of racial discrimination, especially white males. A white college student who fails to get into an elite school is victimized because a black person was admitted. The anti-vaccine crowd thinks they are victims of laws requiring children to be vaccinated to attend public school. And on and on. So long as the government is punishing any group that they believe victimized them, many of them will support anything, no matter how heinous or illegal, the government does to them and pretend that they deserve that treatment. It's 1939 Germany.

[electric_blue68]

10. Geeebzz. How awful