ICE Barbie Kristi Noem Wants to Turn Immigration Into Sick Game Show
The Daily Mail reported Thursday that it had obtained a 35-page program pitch for a show called The American, created by writer and producer Rob Worsoff of Duck Dynasty.
The structure of the show reportedly involves immigrants arriving at Ellis Island aboard 'The Citizen Ship' before travelling from state to state aboard a train called 'The American,' learning about the United States and participating in competitions themed around the different regions of the U.S. Scores would be rendered by U.S. immigration officials, and losers would be sent home with patently American prizes, such as a Starbucks gift card.
'We'll join in the laughter, tears, frustration, and joy—hearing their backstories—as we are reminded how amazing it is to be American,' the pitch stated. Nothing could possibly devalue U.S. citizenship more.
Although the Daily Mail reported sources had indicated that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem supported the project, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied Noem's involvement in the show.
In a post on X Thursday, McLaughlin wrote that the reporting was 'completely false' and an 'affront to journalism.'
'Secretary Noem has not 'backed' or even aware of the pitch of any scripted or reality show,' she said.
McLaughlin said that DHS received hundreds of pitches for television shows a year. 'This pitch has not received approval or denial by staff,' she wrote.
Noem's no stranger to made-for-television propaganda stunts. The former governor of South Dakota was excoriated earlier this week for playing 'dress-up' while deporting U.S. citizens and documented immigrants. In March, she posed with a fresh blow out in front of massive cells of prisoners at CECOT, the notorious prison in El Salvador where Donald Trump had exiled 238 Venezuelan immigrants the government alleged were gang members. On Wednesday, Noem refused to even look at a photo of one of the men remanded there.
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