Starbucks Gift Cards and Airline Miles Offered as Consolation Prizes in Proposed Immigration Reality Show: Report

The Internet was abuzz on Friday as reports came out that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering backing a television show in which migrants would compete for U.S. citizenship.

Even though Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin denied to The Daily Beast that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is involved in the process or that any decision had been made, she did admit that the show's concept is being vetted by agency staff.

Details of the show's pitch, revealed by The Independent, include its title ("The American), the dynamics behind the "contests" and consolation prizes for the winners. "According to the proposal for the reality show, a group of 12 pre-vetted contestants would arrive aboard 'The Citizen Ship' at New York's Ellis Island and be welcomed with a personalized baseball glove by a famous, naturalized American," who will host the proceedings," The Independent detailed.

As for the show's "contests", the news site noted that:

"Specifically mentioned in the pitch are collecting gold from a mine in San Francisco, valancing on logs in Wisconsin, launching a rocket at Cape Canaveral, rafting in Colorado, clam-digging in Maine, assembling a Model-T Ford in Detroit, and delivering mail on horseback in Kansas"

Another detail has to do with consolation prizes for those who fail to win citizenship:

"As the show progresses, the losing contestants will go home with "iconically American" prizes, which bizarrely are suggested to include a million American Airlines points, a $10,000 Starbucks gift card, and a lifetime supply of 76 gasoline. No companies are believed to be connected with the proposal"

The winner of the contest, meanwhile, would be sworn in on Capitol Hill during a live finale.