A white nationalist terrorist group anthem’s is now Homeland Security’s slogan

The Department of Homeland Security is promoting deportation jobs using a line from a far-right white nationalist song. On Jan. 9, they posted an image on their official X account with the phrase “We’ll have our home again” over JOIN.ICE.GOV. Sounds familiar?

A user immediately pointed out that the DHS is “literally using a quote from a KKK & Neo-Nazi theme song.” The phrase “We’ll have our home again” is closely similar to “By God we’ll have our home again.” The latter is not some timeless slogan. It’s recognizable to many far-right and post-fascist communities as part of a modern adaptation of an old sea shanty.

The song has long been circulated on fringe channels with context celebrating ethno-nationalist nostalgia. The underlying tune of the original Rolling Down to Old Maui is a 19th-century maritime song about sailors returning home. That singularly has nothing to do with race or extremism. What sets off alarm bells is the modern lyrics overlaid on that tune online.

The DHS phrase is used by white nationalist racist groups

The phrase “By God we’ll have our home again” serves as an anthem in post-fascist and white nationalist culture online. The slightly reworded phrase DHS used, “We’ll have our home again,” is not inherently racist or extremist on its face. But the context matters.

That wording reads very differently when far-right terrorist groups like the KKK traffic in versions of that phrase. Whether DHS chose the language with no awareness or whether it simply didn’t care, the effect is the same.

A federal agency’s official channel is promoting language that has resonances many Americans find deeply disturbing. Naturally, social media erupted. One bluntly asked, “Are you really singing KKK songs right now?” adding:

“By God We’ll Have our Home Again” is a white nationalist song sung to the tune of Rolling Down to Old Maui, a 19th-century sea shanty. Its lyrics are most often credited to a U.S. fraternal neo-Nazi group. It was adapted as “the official theme song” of the Canadian Diagolon movement.

Another pointed out the image used in the post, asking, “Why are there war planes on the ICE job ad?” Indeed, the phrase is not the official anthem of a historical terror movement. But it is emblematic of a deeper problem.

Users identified the phrase in extremist forums

Several social media users exposed the DHS for using white nationalist propaganda to promote ICE recruitment. One posted several screenshots from such groups to compare DHS’s posts, and it’s alarming:

If you’re new to the “DHS Twitter is using white nationalist propaganda to recruit ICE agents” party, it’s a bit worse, and it’s not new. Those of us monitoring extremism have been pointing out the literal fascist, accelerationist, and Neo-Nazi Telegram propaganda, aesthetics, and memes. But DHS’s account has sicced hordes of harassers on researchers who’ve done so.

With all that context, using a phrase like such is not just tone-deaf. It’s dangerous. Because if the “home” DHS is talking about is something extremists already sing about, Americans have every right to ask: whose home is it, exactly? And who are you inviting back?