Social media post by The White House
On the left, the image created and published by the White House. On the right, the photograph, also released by the White House, of the arrest of a man in New Orleans White House official X account

The Guatemalan government on Wednesday condemned a White House social media post that used an image of a detained and deported Guatemalan man with dwarfism along with an AI image of a doll with a caption that reads "Maybe Labubus are demonic."

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed "indignation" over the use of the Guatemalan national's photo, saying the depiction reinforced "stigmas and prejudices" against migrants.

"We reject any xenophobic and discriminatory manifestation toward migrants, recalling above all the prevalence of human dignity for those who, for various reasons, decide to migrate outside our territory," the ministry said.

The image, generated with artificial intelligence, mimicked the packaging of Labubu dolls, a popular Chinese collectible. It featured a cartoon depiction of a handcuffed man with the caption: "Illegal alien sexual predator arrested by ICE. Deported!" The image was titled "Deported Edition Labubu."

The illustration was tied to Cristian Soto Galeano, a Guatemalan citizen who was arrested Monday in New Orleans. The White House later said Soto Galeano had served a two-year sentence for "indecent behavior" with a minor.

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In the aforementioned statement, Guatemala's Foreign Ministry also reiteated the country's willingness to cooperate with the United States on promoting "safe, orderly, and regular" migration, while also highlighting the cultural and economic contributions migrants make abroad. According to humanitarian organizations, roughly 300,000 Guatemalans leave the country each year with the goal of reaching the United States, as Forbes reports.

The "Deported Edition Labubu" post triggered immediate backlash online, with many users questioning whether the White House account had been hacked. "The White House has been reduced to memes, gifs, and trolling," said one user, while another one simply said "ad to triple check to make sure this was the actual White House account."

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