A billboard from American Sovereignty, the mysterious group behind the pro-ICE Super Bowl ad.Hearst Newspapers/Getty

On Sunday during the Super Bowl, you may have encountered a particularly saccharine bit of propaganda: a pro-ICE ad describing agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement as “friends” and “neighbors”—local heroes, deporting “violent criminals” from the homeland. (Only 14 percent of those arrested by ICE, according to CBS News, have been charged with violent crimes.)

The commercial wasn’t the work of the Trump administration—or even a political candidate or a well-known advocacy organization. The pro-ICE advertisement was placed by a group called American Sovereignty, which is brand new, seems to be a nonprofit or political entity, and has almost no public presence—save for half-a-dozen tweets........

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