The Department of Homeland Security used Theo Von in a pro-deportation campaign, making the comedian “shook” and “paranoid.” He claims his views on immigration are far more nuanced than the DHS painted them out to be.
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Theo Von, comedian and host of the popular podcast This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, was used by the Department of Homeland Security against his permission to champion deportation. Not only was he offended to be misappropriated and used to promote a cause he doesn’t believe in, but he was also left paranoid.
In September, the DHS uploaded a since-deleted video to X (which a user has since reposted), which used a clip of Theo Von saying, “Heard you got deported. Bye!” before bragging about deportation statistics.
Having a problem with being used in this fashion, Von replied to the tweet (which also has since been deleted).
He wrote, “Yooo DHS i didn’t approve to be used in this. I know you know my address so send a check. And please take this down, and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos. When it comes to immigration, my thoughts and heart are a lot more nuanced than this video allows. Bye!”
Although this incident has been scrubbed by both parties, the incident left Von feeling unsafe and upset.
Theo Von Left “Paranoid” After DHS Incident
The podcaster spoke about the online incident in the October 2 edition of his podcast.
He explained that the clip the DHS used was from a brief video he made for a fan as a joke.
Since the viral video, however, Von faced a lot of threats and hate from people online who are staunchly opposed to the deportations taking place in the United States.
“My father immigrated here from Nicaragua,” he explained. “One of my prized possessions is his immigration papers when he came here.”
“I have tons of thoughts about [immigration],” he continued. “But this was just f–ked up.”
After the incident, Theo Von felt paranoid. “That had me start to get kind of paranoid,” he said, saying that he began closing his curtains.
“I woke up the next morning to a text from a high government official, saying, ‘Hey, if you need some extra security in your neighborhood or some extra police cars on patrol, let me know.'”
This message shocked him. “What, you just going to put police cars in my neighborhood? What are my neighbors going to think now? They’re fearful.”
“It really kind of shook me.”