House committee grills DHS Sec. Noem on due process, farming
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced questions from a House committee on due process and immigration policy impacting agriculture.
WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security is considering collaborating on a TV show with the producer of the popular reality show “Duck Dynasty” that would pit immigrants against each other in a contest to – potentially – get their U.S. citizenship applications fast-tracked, a department official confirmed May 16.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin initially denied that the idea, first reported by the DailyMail.Com, was being considered by DHS or Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“This is completely false. Daily Mail’s ‘reporting’ is an affront to journalism. Secretary Noem has not ‘backed’ nor is even aware of the pitch of any scripted or reality show,” McLaughlin said in a statement emailed to USA TODAY.
In its May 16 report, the UK publication said “the idea is for real and is outlined in a 35-page program pitch put together in coordination with the DHS secretary” and Rob Worsoff, a writer and producer known for the popular A&E reality show about the Robertson family of Louisiana and its hunting empire.
McLaughlin said DHS receives “hundreds of television show pitches a year,” including documentaries involving border operations by its Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection branches and white collar investigations by its Homeland Security Investigations branch.
“Each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval,” McLaughlin said. “This pitch has not received approval or rejection by staff.”
But McLaughlin later acknowledged to other media outlets that the proposal is “in the very beginning stages of that vetting process.”
The proposed series is called “The American,” named after the train that contestants would ride around the country, competing in regionally specific “cultural” contests, such as logrolling in Wisconsin, the DailyMail.com reported. It said it would end in a grand finale with the winner getting sworn in as a citizen on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
“Along the way, we will be reminded what it means to be American – through the eyes of the people who want it most,” according to Worsoff’s pitch, the article said.
“I’m not affiliated with any political ideology. As an immigrant myself, I am merely trying to make a show that celebrates the immigration process, celebrate what it means to be American and have a national conversation about what it means to be American, through the eyes of the people who want it most,” Worsoff told DailyMail.com.
The Daily Mail also quoted McLaughlin, a Trump appointee under Noem as an assistant DHS secretary, as being totally supportive.
“I think it’s a good idea,” it quoted McLaughlin as saying.
McLaughlin told the Daily Mail that agency staff had a call with the producer last week but that Noem had yet to be briefed about it.
“However, DailyMail.com has confirmed that Noem supports the project and wants to proceed,” the media outlet said, adding that Noem “is wanting to showcase what it means to become an American, amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.”
In January, A&E announced the reboot of the original hit show in a press release, saying the show would follow the Robertson family as “they grapple with mapping out the future of Duck Commander, watching the kids navigate marriage, children and businesses of their own, and passing down the family legacy.”
If the proposed new show gets a green light at DHS and in Hollywood, the contestants would be immigrants already in the system, who would compete in various contests, including potentially on American history and science, Worsoff told the Wall Street Journal.
He said that losing contestants, though, would not face deportation.
“This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants,” Worsoff said. “This is not, ‘Hey, if you lose, we are shipping you out on a boat out of the country.’”