Rob Worsoff (left) has drawn up plans for a show called The American that would involve contestants battling for a prize of US citizenship. Photo / Getty Images
Rob Worsoff (left) has drawn up plans for a show called The American that would involve contestants battling for a prize of US citizenship. Photo / Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security is considering a reality show where immigrants compete for US citizenship.
Producer Rob Worsoff insists the show celebrates immigration and is not a “hunger game” for immigrants.
Critics argue the concept undermines the citizenship process and prioritises ratings.
The Department of Homeland Security is considering greenlighting a reality show where immigrants compete against one another for US citizenship.
Officials in Washington are looking at proposals for the show drawn up by Rob Worsoff, the man behind the hit Duck Dynasty series.
The concept, contained in a 35-page pitchfor a show called The American, would start with pre-vetted contestants arriving at Ellis Island, New York, which served as the main US immigration centre from 1892 to 1954.
The immigrant contestants would then ride a train across the US and compete in an array of challenges, including log-rolling in Wisconsin.
“Along the way, we will be reminded what it means to be American – through the eyes of the people who want it most,” reads Worsoff’s pitch, which was seen by Dailymail.com.
“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,” the Canadian-born Worsoff, 49, said.
He insisted the show was not a “hunger game” for immigrants, with losers facing deportation.
“This is not, ‘Hey, if you lose, we are shipping you out on a boat out of the country’.”
This is not the first time Worsoff has floated the plans, having first pitched the show during the Obama administration, but Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s appetite for publicity will likely have encouraged him about the viability of the show under the current administration.
In late March, Noem, nicknamed “ICE Barbie”, posed in front of caged prisoners in El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison Cecot, with perfectly coiffured hair and in full make-up.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visits El Salvador’s mega-prison in March. Photo / Getty Images, Alex Brandon-Pool
Standing in front of the barred prison cells, with tattooed, shaven-headed deportees as a backdrop, she said: “I also want everybody to know, if you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face.”
The Department for Homeland Security confirmed the proposals were “under consideration” but had not been seen by Noem.
It is “in the very beginning stages of that vetting process”, a spokeswoman said, adding: “Each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval.”
However, suggestions that Noem had backed the plans were “completely false”, the department’s spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
American Immigration Lawyers president Kelli Stump told the Telegraph: “From what I’ve read about this ‘idea’, my legal thought is ‘how?’ Congress sets the laws for who can become a citizen and the process on how to become one. Not the President.”
“I just feel like making them compete in a Hunger Games/Squid Game reality show really undermines the sacred process… all for what? Ratings? America isn’t a TikTok reel.”
Already, up to 55,000 US immigrants participate in the Green Card Lottery.
Known officially as the Diversity Immigrant Visa, the programme was introduced under the 1990 Immigration Act, which was passed with bipartisan support.
