• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 6, 2025. DHS is reviewing a pitch for a reality show in which immigrants would compete for fast-tracked citizenship. (OSV News photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters)

Homeland Security vetting reality show idea where immigrants compete for citizenship

May 16, 2025
By Kate Scanlon
OSV News
Filed Under: Immigration and Migration, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The Department of Homeland Security is reviewing a pitch for a reality show in which immigrants would compete for fast-tracked citizenship. Catholic immigration advocates expressed concern such a show would undermine the dignity of those seeking U.S. citizenship or legal residency and the challenges they undergo to do so.

The report comes as the Trump administration and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem seek to implement hardline immigration policies, including mass deportation of immigrants lacking legal authorization to live in the United States.

“We find the prospect of a reality show in which immigrants are required to compete for citizenship to be deeply appalling, abhorrent, and contrary to the values that define our nation,” Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, also known as CLINIC, told OSV News.

“The very notion that individuals seeking refuge, safety, and a better life would be treated as contestants in a game is an affront to their inherent dignity and worth,” she said.

First reported by the Daily Mail, television producer Rob Worsoff, behind the A&E show “Duck Dynasty,” pitched DHS on a reality show in which immigrants would compete in various challenges in order to become a citizen. The report claimed Noem supported the pitch, but a DHS spokesperson denied that.

“Along the way, we will be reminded what it means to be American — through the eyes of the people who want it most,” Worsoff’s pitch said, according to the report.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement shared with OSV News, “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. “DHS receives hundreds of television show pitches a year, ranging from documentaries surrounding ICE and CBP border operations to white collar investigations by HSI. Each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval. We need to revive patriotism and civic duty in this country, and we’re happy to review out-of-the-box pitches.”

McLaughlin, however, added, “This pitch has not received approval or rejection by staff.”

The pitch drew comparisons on social media to “The Hunger Games” novels and films, in which teenagers compete for their lives on television under an authoritarian regime.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Worsoff argued his pitch “isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants.”

“This is not, ‘Hey, if you lose, we are shipping you out on a boat out of the country,'” he said.

Worsoff’s pitch, per the Daily Mail, said contestants from various countries and backgrounds would be pre-vetted and arrive at Ellis Island in New York City aboard ‘The Citizen Ship,’ and then take part in various regionally-themed challenges like keeping their balance on logs in Wisconsin. After the grand finale, the winner would be sworn in at the U.S. Capitol.

Gallagher said her organization is “rooted in Catholic social teaching” and holds “firm to the belief that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses inalienable human dignity.”

“The Catholic Church has long emphasized the importance of welcoming the stranger, protecting the vulnerable, and ensuring that all people, regardless of their status, are treated with respect and compassion,” she said. “To reduce the pursuit of citizenship — a fundamental human right — to a mere competition not only dehumanizes individuals, but also undermines the values of justice, solidarity, and compassion that should guide our national policies and practices.”

“As a nation that has long been shaped and enriched by immigrants, we must reject such exploitative concepts and instead focus on creating systems that honor and uplift the people who contribute to the fabric of our society,” Gallagher added. “This proposed reality show sends the dangerous message that immigrants are not worthy of respect but rather are subjects of spectacle.”

Read More Immigration & Migration

Catholic leaders ICE

Report on alleged conditions at ICE’s Florida detention sites prompts Catholic leaders’ call for change

LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids

Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Miami archbishop presses for pastoral visitation at Alligator Alcatraz

Archbishop Wenski leads Knights on Bikes to pray rosary at Alligator Alcatraz

Copyright © 2025 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Kate Scanlon

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary

  • Warsaw archbishop ‘devastated, crushed’ by priest’s arrest in brutal murder of homeless man

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

  • Conference of Major Superiors of Men Men’s religious leaders confront change with fraternity and faith

  • Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

| Latest Local News |

Grillo Family Reflection Space

Loyola University Maryland receives $1 million gift supporting aspiring educators, creation of reflection space

Sister Miriam Jansen, former director of international programs at Notre Dame of Maryland, dies at 86

Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Men’s religious leaders confront change with fraternity and faith

Sister Rose Sylvia Lindner, S.S.N.D., dies at 91

Radio Interview: The true story of ‘Xavier Rynne’

| Latest World News |

Jubilee of Digital Missionaries

Festival of digital missionaries celebrates faithful witness in the digital age

Pilgrimage of Peace

US prelates head to Japan on ‘Pilgrimage of Peace’ amid nuclear fears old and new

jubilee 2025

World will hear young people’s joy, shouting for peace on earth, pope says

Catholic leaders ICE

Report on alleged conditions at ICE’s Florida detention sites prompts Catholic leaders’ call for change

RUSSIAN-ORTHODOX-meeting

Pope Leo meets with top Russian Orthodox cleric amid war, strained relations

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Loyola University Maryland receives $1 million gift supporting aspiring educators, creation of reflection space
  • Festival of digital missionaries celebrates faithful witness in the digital age
  • Sister Miriam Jansen, former director of international programs at Notre Dame of Maryland, dies at 86
  • Movie Review: ‘Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight’
  • New law will help families access America’s Catholic schools
  • Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon
  • How to grow in faith for back-to-school
  • US prelates head to Japan on ‘Pilgrimage of Peace’ amid nuclear fears old and new
  • World will hear young people’s joy, shouting for peace on earth, pope says

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en