After actor Dean Cain took to social media to announce he’s joined ICE to participate in the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration crackdown, fellow actor John Leguizamo made an Instagram video of his own in which he referred to Cain as a “loser.”
Cain said in his video last week that he “felt it was important to join with our first responders to help secure the safety of all Americans, not just talk about it, so I joined up.”
Cain urged people to sign up, telling them that those interested “can defend your homeland and get great benefits, like a $50,000 signing bonus, student loan repayment, retirement benefits, and special pay for those in the field operations and law enforcement roles.”
You can see his video below.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has also lifted age restrictions for new hires, confirmed that Cain “will be sworn in as an honorary ICE Officer in the coming month.” An excited Cain told Fox News host Jesse Watters that he “will do whatever [ICE Director Todd Lyons] will ask me to do” so “we can protect this country.”
Leguizamo—who has previously criticized the Trump administration’s attacks against the Hispanic community and has long advocated for voting rights and better Hispanic representation in Hollywood films—criticized Cain’s decision shortly afterward, saying:
“What kind of loser volunteers to be an ICE officer? What a moron. Dean Cain, your pronouns are ‘has/been.’”
You can hear what Leguizamo said in the video below.
Many praised Leguizamo for speaking out, and criticized Cain themselves.
Cain was similarly criticized by Last Week Tonight host John Oliver, who said there is “no need for that guy to wear a mask because the chances of anyone recognizing him are f**king zero.”
He added:
“Now, I’m not saying that ICE isn’t finding people.”
“I’m just saying, when you are reduced to pinning a badge on the 59-year-old star of ‘The Dog Who Saved Christmas,’ ‘The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation,’ ‘The Dog Who Saved the Holidays,’ ‘The Dog Who Saved Halloween,’ ‘The Dog Who Saved Easter’ and ‘The Dog Who Saved Summer,’ maybe you are in trouble.”
Comedian Margaret Cho also called out Cain, drawing attention to his Japanese ancestry. Cho suggested Cain is aligning himself with racist whites who will never accept him.
Addressing Cain, she said that “no matter how many of these white activities you participate in…you’re never gonna be white, no matter how racist you are, no matter how wrong you act.”
