The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a painting by the late artist Thomas Kinkade titled *Morning Pledge* on social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and X, with the caption “Protect the Homeland.” The painting depicts an idealized American small town with midcentury cars, a schoolhouse, and an American flag. Kinkade, known for mass-producing sentimental, conservative scenes and dubbed the “painter of light,” was widely dismissed by the mainstream art world as kitschy. The DHS post coincided with the opening of a new ICE detention center in the Florida Everglades, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” built to imprison immigrant detainees, and with the passage of a controversial bill expanding ICE funding while cutting healthcare and food benefits.
This matters because it highlights the use of art as political propaganda by a government agency, juxtaposing a nostalgic, exclusionary vision of America with the harsh realities of immigration enforcement and policy. The article critiques the DHS for promoting a sanitized, whitewashed image of the nation while simultaneously advancing measures that harm vulnerable populations. It underscores how Kinkade’s art, long criticized for its saccharine unreality, is being weaponized to distract from human rights concerns, making a pointed commentary on the intersection of visual culture, politics, and social justice.