Dean Cain from 'Superman' TV series to become an 'honorary' ICE officer

Dean Cain at a convention in Chicago. The actor shared an Instagram post on Wednesday about his plan to join ICE and urged his followers to join too. Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP hide caption

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Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP

Actor Dean Cain, best known for his starring role in the 1990s Superman TV spinoff Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, has announced he is planning to join U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The 59-year-old actor shared his decision in an interview on Wednesday with Fox News' Jesse Watters. " 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 said. "President Trump ran on this. This is what people voted for. It's what I voted for. He's gonna see it through, and I'll do my part and help him make sure it happens."

Cain's news came after he took to Instagram to promote ICE's efforts to hire new recruits.

"You can defend your homeland and get great benefits, like a $50,000 signing bonus," the actor said. "So if you wanna help save America, ICE is arresting the worst of the worst and removing them from America's streets."

The video begins with a statement that may have misled some into thinking the actor had already joined ICE: " I felt it was important to join with our first responders to help secure the safety of all Americans, not just talk about it," said Dean on Instagram. "So I joined up."

But Cain went on to tell Watters that the decision to join ICE came after his Instagram post. "I'm actually a sworn deputy sheriff and a reserve police officer," he said. "I wasn't part of ICE. But once I put that [the Instagram video] out there and you put a little blurb on your show, it went crazy. So now I've spoken with some officials over at ICE."

Cain "will be sworn in as an honorary ICE Officer in the coming month," according to a statement from Tricia McLaughlin, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.

Cain has spoken in the past about his law enforcement affiliations as a reserve police officer in Idaho's Pocatello Police Department and as a sworn sheriff's deputy in Frederick County, Va. NPR has reached out to the Frederick County Sheriff's Department and the Pocatello Police Department as well as to Cain's legal and entertainment representatives to confirm.

Cain's news comes days after the agency launched a major Uncle Sam-themed recruitment campaign for deportation officers and other roles, promising the aforementioned signing bonus (with the caveat of the amount being "up to" $50,000) alongside other benefits. ICE is charged with implementing the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign.

On Wednesday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced that ICE would remove age limits for applicants. "In the wake of Biden's open borders disaster, our country needs dedicated Americans to join ICE to remove the worst of the worst out of our country," a news release said. Previously, ICE applicants had to be at least 21 years old and, depending on the role, no older than 37 or 40.

President Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," signed into law in July, sets aside $165 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, including money for additional ICE agents and beds in detention centers.

Few celebrities have spoken out in favor of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's immigration crackdown. In July, filmmaker James Gunn, who directed the new Superman film, told The Sunday Times that he saw the superhero as an immigrant. "I mean, Superman is the story of America," Gunn said. "An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost."