Overview

Homeland Security and J.D. Vance's Menswear Guy Deportation Tweets refers to Twitter / X posts shared by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and the official account of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that responded to calls for the deportation of the Menswear Guy, also known as Derek Guy or @dieworkwear, who seemingly admitted to being in the U.S. illegally amid the June 2025 LA ICE Protests. Derek Guy is a Vietnamese-Canadian who claimed to have entered the U.S. undocumented when he was a baby. Homeland Security's quote-tweet notably used the Spy Kids 2 Glasses GIF and meme, showing the boy character, Juni Cortez, enhancing green spy glasses. Vance's post used a reaction GIF of Jack Nicholson nodding. The tweets received praise from pro-Trump and anti-immigration internet users, many of whom supported the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid the Los Angeles protests. The tweets also received backlash from people who believed they were tone deaf and irresponsible for government entities to post, similar to criticisms levied at the White House's Studio Ghibli AI Deportation Tweet.

Background

Derek Guy, also known as the Menswear Guy, posts frequently to the X^[1] account @dieworkwear. He was born to Vietnamese parents in Canada.^[2] Guy is a men's fashion writer with a focus on formal wear.^[16] He had shared tweets^[4][5] critiquing VP J.D. Vance's style on multiple occasions (example shown below).

On June 8th, 2025, Derek Guy shared a tweet^[6] about the anti-ICE protests happening in Los Angeles, California, receiving over 25,000 likes in two days. In it, he said that he admired "the courage of people protesting the ICE raids in California," but was "against violent protests." The tweet received pushback from other X^[7] users, who disagreed with his "against violent protests" take.

Later on June 8th, Derek Guy posted a long-form tweet^[2] that aimed to humanize illegal immigrants based on his own story of undocumented immigration. Guy stated that he was born in Canada, but his parents had moved to California for work when he was a baby. He wrote, "I'm still unsure whether we technically broke an immigration law," and finally wrote, "I hope me sharing this story helps push back against the idea that all undocumented immigrants are MS-13 members." The tweet received over 4.5 million views and 58,000 likes in two days (shown below, click to enlarge).

On June 9th, 2025, X^[3] user @YashiPhougat tweeted, "The Menswear Guy just openly admitted on here that he’s here illegally," receiving over 7,100 likes in a day.

The tweet was quote-tweeted by the official X^[8] account of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (@DHSgov) later on June 9th. The post used a GIF from Spy Kids 2 of the character Juni Cortez enhancing with his green spy glasses. The post received over 9.9 million views and 110,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Also on June 9th, 2025, X^[9] user @growing_daniel quote-tweeted @YashiPhougat, writing, "JD Vance I know you’re reading this and you have the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever," receiving over 40,000 likes in a day.

Later on June 9th, Vance replied^[10] to @growing_daniel with a GIF of Jack Nicholson nodding and saying, "Yes." The post received over 7.4 million views and 56,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Online Reactions

Both tweets from the DHS and VP J.D. Vance amassed viral replies and quote-tweets in the following days. For instance, on June 9th, 2025, X^[11] user @tmuxvim replied to the DHS tweet, writing, "I don't want my federal [government] posting memes," gaining over 15,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Others praised the tweets from VP Vance and the DHS account. For instance, on June 9th, X^[14] user @magills_ quote-tweeted Vance, writing, "JD Vance taking personal deportation requests is the type of service I always hoped for from my elected officials," gaining over 17,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Critical responses continued to go viral on X as well. For instance, on June 9th, 2025, X^[15] user @chiweethedog quote-tweeted the DHS, writing, "Extinction level indicator," riffing on the term "recession indicator." In a day, the tweet amassed over 46,000 likes (shown below).

Developments

Menswear Guy's Response

On June 9th, 2025, Derek Guy quote-tweeted^[12] VP J.D. Vance, attaching two photos of Vance in tight, ill-fitting clothes, captioned, "I think I can outrun you in these clothes." The post gained over 93,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Later on June 9th, Guy tweeted^[13] two news articles about VP Vance and the DHS tweets, writing, "Honestly didn't expect this is what would happen when I joined a menswear forum 15 years ago," receiving over 68,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Search Interest

External References