If something sounds a little too good to be true, it probably is.
That’s a lesson that critics of the President Donald Trump administration appear to be learning after an outlandish report turned out to be, in fact, mostly false.
An unbelievable Wall Street Journal report on Friday came with a rather bombastic claim in the headline: “DHS Is Considering Reality Show Where Immigrants Compete for Citizenship.”
(This was exacerbated by another story from the U.K. outlet The Daily Mail, which pointed to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem‘s alleged complicity in this.)
Many on social media took the headline — and that alone — and ran with the angle that the Department of Homeland Security was considering some dystopian “Hunger Games”-style battle royale for citizenship.
And it’s safe to assume that many of those critics didn’t get past the headline, because the first paragraph of the Journal’s report makes it clear what’s actually happening: “The Department of Homeland Security is considering being part of a television show in which immigrants would compete for potential U.S. citizenship, an idea the producer pitched as far back as the Obama administration.”
Being pitched to be a part of something is a far cry from “considering [a] reality show,” as the headline originally suggests.
But that headline was enough for this story to take on a life of its own, as Trump critics used the confusingly-worded title to pillory the current administration.
This is sick. Under the Trump Administration we lose more of our humanity every day.https://t.co/5QIgzXAWxe
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) May 16, 2025
Should an immigration reality show be made?
It doesn’t take much effort to find similar outrage across all of social media.
Just one problem: none of that report appears to be true.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin took to X to rebuke one of the propagators of this report, the Daily Mail via The Daily Beast.
This is completely false. @DailyMail’s “reporting” is an affront to journalism. Secretary Noem has not “backed” or even aware of the pitch of any scripted or reality show. @DHSgov receives hundreds of television show pitches a year, ranging from documentaries surrounding ICE… https://t.co/srSBHYl3Vp
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) May 16, 2025
“This is completely false,” McLaughlin posted shortly after the report started gaining traction. “[The Daily Mail’s] ‘reporting’ is an affront to journalism. Secretary Noem has not ‘backed’ or [was] even aware of the pitch of any scripted or reality show.
“[DHS] receives hundreds of television show pitches a year, ranging from documentaries surrounding ICE and CBP border operation to white collar investigations by HSI.
“Each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval,” she added. “This pitch has not received approval or denial by staff.”
(McLaughlin actually spoke to the Journal regarding its story, and didn’t seem particularly upset with them in her X post.)
So, there you have it. This dystopian show does exist — but only as a hypothetical pitch at the moment.
And DHS is “considering” it like it would anything else, at least according to McLaughlin’s description, but not a single thing has been finalized.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
