Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/ABC Photo Archives
Topics: Superman, Donald Trump, Immigration, US News, Politics
Gregory Robinson
Topics: Superman, Donald Trump, Immigration, US News, Politics
An actor who once played Superman has been slammed by fans after announcing he had joined ICE to ‘save America’.
Dean Cain once donned the famous red cape and red briefs in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which aired on ABC between 1993-1997.
More recently, however, the 59-year-old announced he had joined the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid the federal agency’s immigration raids.
The Trump administration has cracked down on immigration, however, the raids have drawn significant criticism. ICE agents are under pressure from the White House to increase deportation numbers to remain in line with Trump’s presidential campaign promise to address illegal immigration.
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ICE was recently awarded $75bn in additional funding as part of Trump’s deportation drive.
In a recent Instagram post this week, Cain said he is going to join ICE and urged others to follow suit.
“You can defend your homeland and get great benefits,” he said in the now-viral clip.
He claimed ‘hundreds of thousands of criminals’ had been arrested since US President Donald Trump returned to office this year.
Cain also informed his fans that they would get a series of benefits if they joined the federal agency, including $50,000 and student loan repayment.
"If you want to help save America ICE is arresting the worst of the worst and removing them from America's streets," he continued, before adding: "I voted for that."
ICE reportedly hopes to add 10,000 new personnel to its ranks, which would double its headcount.
Cain's declaration has angered many. "Shame on you Dean - that’s the most un-Superman thing you could possibly advocate," said one outraged Instagram user.
"Worst Superman ever," another disappointed social media user declared.
"The attempts on staying relevant are pretty pathetic," a third added.
Cain was recently in the news following the release of James Gunn's new Superman film because he took issue with one of the director's comments regarding the character.
Gunn described the titular character as an immigrant in the US, as he originates from outside the country. You don't have to be a comic book aficionado to remember the backstory of Clark Kent AKA Kal-El.
Superman is an alien who crash lands on Earth, after his home planet planet Krypton is destroyed. He soon becomes the American hero archetype, looking after those who need it most.
Cain wasn't happy he heard Gunn's comments and he told TMZ: “How woke is Hollywood going to make this character? How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters [to] exist for the times?
"For Superman, it was ‘truth, justice, and the American way.’ Well, they dropped that… They came up with ‘truth, justice, and a better tomorrow'.
"Changing beloved characters I don’t think is a great idea. If you want to create a new character go ahead and do that."
Cain went on: “Superman has always stood for ‘truth, justice and the American way,’ and the ‘American way’ is immigrant friendly, tremendously immigrant friendly.
“But there are rules. You can’t come in saying, ‘I want to get rid of all the rules in America, because I want it to be more like Somalia'. Well that doesn’t work, because you had to leave Somalia to come here…
"There have to be limits, because we cant have everybody in the United States. We can’t have everybody, society will fail. So there have to be limits.”