Dean Cain, former TV Superman, will be sworn in as honorary ICE officer
Dean Cain, the actor best known for portraying Superman on a 1990s television show, wants to join the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. In an interview with Fox News this week, Cain said he'd already spoken to the agency responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportations agenda.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security's spokesperson, said Thursday that Cain would be sworn in as an 'honorary ICE Officer' in the coming month. It wasn't immediately clear what his duties as an honorary officer would entail. Cain, 59, told Fox News he was already a sworn deputy sheriff and a reserve police officer.
Earlier this week, Cain posted a video to his social media accounts encouraging others to join the agency. The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that it is removing age limits for new hires at the agency responsible for immigration enforcement, as it aims to expand hiring after a massive infusion of cash from Congress.
Cain has in the past decade been outspoken in his conservative viewpoints and endorsed Trump in three elections. A representative for Cain did not respond to request for comment Thursday.
McLaughlin referenced Cain's titular role in 'Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,' which ran from 1993 to 1997, in her statement, saying in her statement that 'Superman is encouraging Americans to become real-life superheroes.'
Warner Bros, which released a new 'Superman' last month, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The film, which has made over $550 million and stars David Corenswet, became a hot-button topic with right-wing commentators who criticized the movie as 'woke' after director James Gunn referred to the character as being like an 'immigrant.'
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asahi Shimbun
5 hours ago
- Asahi Shimbun
South Korean president will meet Japanese leader ahead of summit with Trump
A visitor watches North Korean side from the Unification Observation in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Aug. 10. (AP Photo) SEOUL--South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo next week before flying to Washington for a summit with President Donald Trump, underscoring how Trump's push to reset global trade is drawing the often-feuding neighbors closer. Lee's two-day visit to Japan Aug. 23–24 will be an opportunity to deepen personal ties with Ishiba and put bilateral relations on firmer ground. Their talks will center on strengthening trilateral cooperation with Washington, promoting 'regional peace and stability,' and addressing other international issues, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Wednesday. Their meeting will come weeks after South Korea and Japan secured trade deals with Washington that shielded their trade-dependent economies from Trump's highest tariffs. The separate agreements negotiated their rates of reciprocal duties down to 15% from the originally proposed 25%, but only after pledging hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. investments. Lee and Ishiba previously met on the sidelines of the June G-7 meetings in Canada, where they called for building a future-oriented relationship and agreed to cooperate closely on various issues including trade and countering North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. Relations between the two U.S. allies often have been strained in recent years over grievances stemming from Japan's brutal colonization of the Korean Peninsula before the end of World War II. South Korea's previous conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, made active efforts to repair ties with Tokyo, including a major compromise on compensation issues related to Korean victims of Japanese wartime slavery, aiming to bolster trilateral security cooperation with Washington against North Korean threats. But Yoon's presidency was cut short by his brief imposition of martial law in December, which led to his ouster and imprisonment, leaving uncertainty over Seoul-Tokyo relations under Lee, who has long accused Japan of clinging to its imperialist past and hindering cooperation. Since taking office in June after winning the early presidential election, Lee has avoided thorny remarks about Japan, instead promoting pragmatism in foreign policy and pledging to strengthen Seoul's alliance with Washington and trilateral cooperation with Tokyo. There also have been calls in South Korea to boost collaboration with Japan in responding to Trump, who has unsettled allies and partners with tariff hikes and demands they reduce reliance on the U.S. while paying more for their own defense. Following his meeting with Ishiba, Lee will travel to Washington for an Aug. 25 summit with Trump, which his office said will focus on trade and defense cooperation. His meeting with Trump comes with concerns in Seoul that the Trump administration could shake up the decades-old alliance by demanding higher payments for the U.S. troop presence in South Korea and possibly move to reduce it as Washington shifts more focus on China.
Japan Today
13 hours ago
- Japan Today
Mexico transfers 26 cartel figures wanted by U.S. authorities in deal with Trump administration
FILE - The letters "CJNG" for the group's formal name, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, covers the facade of an abandoned home in El Limoncito, in the Michoacan state of Mexico, Oct. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File) By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MARÍA VERZA Mexico sent 26 high-ranking cartel figures to the United States Tuesday in the latest major deal with the Trump administration as American authorities ratchet up pressure on criminal networks smuggling drugs across the border. Those being handed over to U.S. custody include Abigael González Valencia, a leader of 'Los Cuinis,' a group closely aligned with notorious cartel Jalisco New Generation or CJNG, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Another person, Roberto Salazar, is wanted in connection to the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, the person said. Other defendants have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, the Los Zetas cartel and other violent drug trafficking groups. They were being flown to American soil after the Justice Department agreed not to seek the death penalty against any of the defendants or against any cartel leaders and members transferred to the U.S. in February, the person said. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an operation that was still ongoing. Mexico's Attorney General's Office and Security ministry confirmed that 26 defendants were transferred but didn't identify them. Mexican security officials had planned a news conference for Wednesday. It's the second time in months Mexico has expelled cartel figures accused of narcotics smuggling, murder and other crimes amid mounting pressure from the Trump administration to curb the flow of drugs across the border. In February, Mexico handed over to American authorities 29 cartel figures, including drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, who was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985. The February transfers came days before 25% tariffs on Mexican imports were to take effect. Late last month, President Donald Trump spoke with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and agreed to put off threatened 30% tariffs for another 90 days to allow for negotiations. Sheinbaum has shown a willingness to cooperate more on security than her predecessor, specifically being more aggressive in pursuit of Mexico's cartels. But she has drawn a clear line when it comes to Mexico's sovereignty, rejecting suggestions by Trump and others of intervention by the U.S. military. The Trump administration made dismantling dangerous drug cartels a key priority, designating CJNG and seven other Latin American organized crime groups foreign terrorist organizations. Since the new designations in February, the Trump administration has begun bringing terror charges in some cartel related cases. Abigael González Valencia is the brother-in-law of CJNG leader Nemesio Rubén 'El Mencho' Oseguera Cervantes, a top target of the U.S. government. Abigael González Valencia was arrested in February 2015 in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco and had been fighting extradition to the United States since then. The U.S. government has offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to 'El Mencho's' arrest or conviction. Alongside his two brothers, Abigael González Valencia led 'Los Cuinis,' which financed the the founding and growth of the CJNG, one of the most powerful and dangerous cartels in Mexico. CJNG traffics hundreds of tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the United States and other countries and is known for extreme violence, murders, torture, and corruption. One of his brothers, José González Valencia, was sentenced in Washington's federal court in June to 30 years in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty to international cocaine trafficking. Jose González Valencia was arrested in 2017 under the first Trump administration at a beach resort in Brazil while vacationing with his family under a fake name. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Mothers Are Leaving the Workforce, Erasing Pandemic Gains
Working mothers, who helped drive much of the job market's post-pandemic comeback, are leaving the workforce in large numbers this year. The share of working mothers age 25 to 44 with young children has fallen nearly every month this year, dropping by nearly 3 percentage points between January and June, to the lowest level in more than three years, according to an analysis of federal data by Misty Heggeness, a professor at the University of Kansas and former principal economist at the Census Bureau. The drop has been enough to wipe out many of the gains made by working mothers after the pandemic, when remote work arrangements and flexible schedules lured many back to the labor force. But the reversal of many of those policies – with major corporations and government agencies now requiring employees to be back in the office five days a week – has had the opposite effect, Heggeness said. Sweeping federal layoffs have also been a setback for women and other caregivers, who have long relied on the government for stable and flexible employment. 'It's become harder for women, particularly those with caregiving responsibilities, to thrive in this job market,' she said, likening the moment to the 'Barbie' movie when Ken takes over the feminist land of Barbie with masculine ideals. 'It's clear that we're backsliding in the Ken-ergy economy, that the return-to-office chest pounding is having a real ripple effect.' In some cases, mothers say they are giving up jobs happily, in line with MAGA culture and the rise of the 'traditional wife' (#tradwife on social media), which celebrates women choosing conventional gender roles by focusing on children instead of careers. The Trump administration has doubled down on its message that Americans should be having more babies, with Vice President JD Vance promoting the benefits of having a parent at home, saying 'young children are clearly happier and healthier' in such arrangements. This year's pullback among mothers is part of a broader shift: Some 212,000 women over 20 have stopped working or applying for jobs since January, with particularly pronounced drops for Black women and those ages 25 to 34, Labor Department data shows. And while the unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, remains low, the share of women in the workforce has fallen since January. In interviews with more than a dozen women who've recently left the workforce, many cited a confluence of factors – from layoffs to waning work-from-home flexibility while caring for children or aging parents. Many also noted a discernible shift in workplace attitudes, including return-to-office mandates and discarded diversity policies, that made it feel like they were less valued at work. Several said they struggled to find new work after losing their jobs and decided to go back to school instead, or stay home with their children. Almost all of the women said the decision to stop working felt uncharacteristic for them, and wasn't something they would've considered a year ago. 'Work was a big, big part of my identity, but all of these little things added up,' said Isabelle Beulaygue, 37, a sociologist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who left her job as a university professor earlier this year to stay home with her infant. 'I was always super career-focused, but it started feeling like women were expendable at work, like they weren't really respected anymore.' There wasn't any one thing that led her to quit, she said, but rather a culmination of small changes – including a move for her husband's job, growing pressure to be in the office for long hours and worsening morale because of federal budget cuts. When she had to leave work early a few times to care for her sick baby, it was difficult to coordinate. 'Flexibility feels like a thing of the past,' she said. The pullback comes at a time when the broader labor market is cooling after years of hefty post-pandemic growth. U.S. employers added 106,000 jobs between April and July – less than one-third of jobs added in the same period last year, according to the latest Labor Department data. 'The U.S. is the only advanced economy that's had declining female labor force participation in the last 20 years, and a lot of that is because of lack of social safety net and caregiving supports,' said Kate Bahn, chief economist at the Institute for Women's Policy Research. 'It's a long-term trend that appears to be getting worse.' Although Black women are more likely to be in the workforce than White or Hispanic women, Bahn said they have been disproportionately hit by recent overhauls, including federal government cuts and the dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The labor market has slowed down considerably for all workers, but the unemployment rate for Black women over 20 has risen by nearly an entire percentage point so far this year, to 6.3 percent in July, its highest level in almost four years. After six months of job-searching, Jovanna, who was laid off from her health care copywriting job in early February, is changing course entirely. The mother of two, who is Black and lives in the Midwest, recently enrolled in a 15-week project management certification program in hopes of switching careers. 'I sent out at least 500 applications, worked with three different career coaches, and networked as much as I could,' said Jovanna, who asked to be identified by her middle name only, because she worries about jeopardizing future employment. 'I am depleting my savings and ended up having to borrow against my 401(k), so it got to the point where I had to make a bigger change.' Economists say they worry that the latest labor force departures could indicate a longer term setback for women, especially if they decide to return to work. Historically, breaks in work history have coincided with lower pay and fewer opportunities for advancement, said Heggeness of the University of Kansas. 'There are huge implications for the women themselves,' she said. 'Their lifetime earnings will be lower, they will most likely come back to a job that does not pay the salary they were making when they left. It'll be harder for them to get back in, harder to move up the ladder to senior management positions because they've had this gap in employment.' Emily Santoni left her position as a chief marketing officer at an energy consulting firm in Houston to stay home with her children, ages 1 and 3, this year. It wasn't a decision she made lightly – she and her husband spent months lining up their finances and preparing for the transition. Last year, the couple spent more than $140,000 on a full-time nanny and other child care. It was financially doable, Santoni said, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing out. 'I worked hard, I had a great career, we were both making great money,' the 39-year-old said. 'But I was working so much, there were weeks when I saw my kids for maybe 30 minutes a day. Finally it was like, 'Let's slow this down so I can be a present mother.'' Plus, her workplace was doing away with a policy that allowed parents to work from home two days a week. That wasn't a 'major deciding factor,' Santoni said, 'but it was one more thing that was like, 'Blargh, this sucks.'' Major corporations around the country, including J.P. Morgan, AT&T and Amazon, as well as large swaths of the federal government, have begun mandating that employees clock in to the office five days a week. Although enforcement has been uneven, labor economists say those requirements have added extra strain for many workers, particularly those with young children. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Santoni says leaving the workforce has been a refreshing change. She's spending a lot more time with her children, and is also going to more workout classes and happy hours with friends. Although it took a few months to find her rhythm, she's now encouraging other women in her circle to consider stepping back from the labor force. 'My decision to leave my corporate role had nothing to do with politics or a movement telling women to stay home. It had everything to do with what success looks like for me right now,' Santoni said. 'I've worked relentlessly since I was young, and now I choose to give my best energy to my kids while they're little. For moms choosing to leave the workforce for this same reason, it's not weakness or submission – it's power.'
