Critics Shred ‘Unbelievably Inhumanely Cruel’ Entertainment Idea Pitched To DHS

A report that the Department of Homeland Security is considering a pitch for a reality TV show — in which 12 immigrants would compete against each other in multiple tasks in a bid to gain U.S. citizenship — has drawn fierce blowback on social media.

Critics condemned the proposed show — which DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told HuffPost is only in the “very beginning stages” of being vetted by the department ― as “unbelievably inhumanely cruel,” “sick” and “macabre.”

“It’s Hunger Games for green cards, human struggle turned into entertainment for billionaires. Dystopian. Dehumanizing. Disgraceful,” wrote one critic on X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly named Twitter.

“What the fuck kind of Hunger Games shit is this…” asked another.

They added: “Remember when we were civilized… even helping humanity?”

Rob Worsoff, a Canadian-born producer and director, pitched the show, titled “The American,” per the Daily Mail.

McLaughlin described as “completely false” the report that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem knew anything about the concept, saying she has “not ‘backed’ or even reviewed the pitch of any scripted or reality show.”

The pitch, though, plays into the broader criticism of Trump’s White House as a reality show presidency. Trump himself, of course, hosted the long-running reality business show “The Apprentice,” during which he once mulled a season in which Black contestants would compete against white ones.

Fox Business host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, meanwhile, during Trump’s first term joked about putting an “American Ninja Warrior”-style obstacle course on the southern border. Only immigrants who could complete the course could enter the U.S., she suggested.