In a striking moment during a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, the podcast host expressed serious concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s current operations. During his conversation with Amjad Masad, founder of Replit, Rogan didn’t mince words about what he sees as overreach by the federal agency.
“There’s two things that are insane,” Rogan said. “One is the targeting of migrant workers. Not cartel members, not gang members, not dr*g dealers, just construction workers showing up in construction sites and raiding them, gardeners.” He paused before adding, “Like really?”
The conversation highlighted several troubling incidents that have emerged from ICE’s intensified enforcement activities. Amjad specifically mentioned Palestinian students on college campuses and a Turkish student at Tufts University who faced deportation threats after writing an essay critical of Israel.
“Is that a woman?” Rogan asked when shown a video of ICE agents. “What was her essay about? It was just critical of Israel, right? Just critical of Israel. I mean and that’s enough to get you kicked out of the country. ”
Masad, who is Palestinian-American, shared his own perspective on the chilling effect these actions are having. “There’s a video of like ICE agents like I don’t know,” he said, describing the Turkish student case. He also said that immigration enforcement has expanded beyond targeting criminals to encompass individuals engaged in protected speech and lawful activities.
While he has supported aspects of the current administration, Rogan didn’t hold back his disappointment.
The conversation touched on deeper concerns about American values and freedom of expression. “I mean, I don’t agree with all their like a lot of there’s a lot of radicalism. A lot of young people are attracted to like more radical positions on Israel Palestine,” Masad noted about campus activism.
Rogan chimed in, stating: “I don’t mind those positions as long as someone’s able to counter those positions, right? The problem is these supposed free speech warriors want to silence anybody who has a more conservative opinion.”
“That’s not American,” Rogan stated flatly when discussing the deportation of students for their political views. He stressed that what attracted immigrants like Masad to America in the first place was “freedom—the concept of freedom, which I think is real.”
