DHS used Eagles Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins’ highlights to promote immigration crackdown. Now the NFL wants it removed: ‘Not given permission’

A Department of Homeland Security social media video posted Sunday used footage of former Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins. The clip opened with Dawkins on a pregame walkout as he chanted, “The time has come,” then cut to a string of violent hits from his NFL career.

The DHS caption on the post read “Our time has come.” The video was posted in response to a social media account that claimed a “huge migrant caravan” was approaching the United States’ southern border.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Monday that the league has requested the DHS take down the video. Dawkins told ESPN in a text that he had not given permission for his image to be used by the DHS. “I have very respectfully not given permission,” he wrote.

Hall of Famer says in text to ESPN that he never approved the use

Dawkins spent 16 seasons in the NFL with the Eagles and the Denver Broncos. He made nine Pro Bowls and was known for physical play before he retired in 2011. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. DHS has drawn scrutiny for its actions, as Secretary Mullin has warned that Rep. Ilhan Omar could be deported.  

According to The Guardian, the DHS has used other U.S. sports imagery in social media posts before. In 2025, a DHS post touted plans for an immigration detention center in Indiana called “Speedway Slammer.” Such immigration-related controversies have also involved political figures, like when Nebraska Gov Jim Pillen pushed for Trump’s immigration crackdown but a report claimed his own farms hired undocumented workers.

That post included an AI-generated image of an IndyCar-style vehicle carrying Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 with “ICE” stamped on it. The car in the image sat in front of a jail. O’Ward was then the only Mexican driver in the series.

O’Ward and officials from the racing series were shocked by the post. “It caught a lot of people off guard. Definitely caught me off guard,” O’Ward said at the time. “I was just a little bit shocked at the coincidences of that and, you know, of what it means … I don’t think it made a lot of people proud, to say the least.”