The comic book hero that Cain portrayed in the 1990s television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman might have been an immigrant himself, but it seems the actor has a more hardline view on foreign arrivals to the United States.
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Cain revealed that he decided to join the agency after sharing one of ICE’s recruitment videos on social media the day before.
“I’m actually … a sworn deputy sheriff and a reserve police officer – I wasn’t part of ICE, but once I put that (the recruitment video) out there and you put a little blurb on your show, it went crazy,” Cain told Fox News host Jesse Watters.
“So now I’ve spoken with some officials over at ICE and I will be sworn in as an ICE agent ASAP.”
Asked what motivated the move, Cain, who is a well known conservative in Hollywood, said: “This country was built on patriots stepping up, whether it was popular or not, and doing the right thing. I truly believe this is the right thing.”
Cain described the US’s immigration system as “broken,” saying, “Congress needs to fix it, but in the interim, President Trump ran on this. He is delivering on this. This is what people voted for. It’s what I voted for and he’s going to see it through, and I’ll do my part and help make sure it happens.”
Cain’s public pledge to join ICE comes amid a significant acceleration in immigration enforcement, as the Trump administration is apprehending hundreds of immigrants every day across the country.
But a CNN analysis of agency data revealed a stark split in where ICE makes those arrests in blue states and red states.
In states that voted for Trump, ICE agents are most likely to arrest immigrants directly from prisons and jails.
By contract, in Democratic-leaning states ICE is frequently arresting immigrants from worksites, streets and mass roundups that have sparked protests and intense backlash in cities such as Los Angeles. Most of those arrested don’t have a criminal record.
Overall, ICE is making more arrests in red states than blue states – both in the community and, especially, in prisons and jails – the ICE data shows.
