No, You Cannot Deport Superman

July 9th, 2025 was a baffling day for fans awaiting the latest Superman movie, as one of the Man Of Steel's 1990s actors seemingly went on a bizarre tirade against the film.

Former Buffalo Bills player, Idaho Reserve Police Officer for the Saint Anthony Police Department and full-time actor Dean Cain confused longtime fans by decrying Superman as "woke".

"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?" Cried Cain to TMZ in a quote that some took as being borderline racist, as it threw under the proverbial bus Disney for casting a non-Caucasian actress for their recent Snow White remake.

He continued with "Superman's inherent weakness is his goodness." This implies that having morals and doing the right thing are "weak" traits, an alarming declaration from a man who in real-life was sworn in as a police officer, and as per his job, would have had to uphold the law, meaning that on some level, he has to maintain at least some semblance of goodness. In an era rife with news stories about rogue cops who murder, such as the case with high profile cases like the murder of seven-year-old Aiyana Jones in 2010 at the hands of officer Joseph Weekley, the absolute worst thing an officer like Cain can do is to insist that "goodness is weakness". Phrases like these only create more drama for good officers who do not wish to become a stereotype in an age where fewer people trust law enforcement.

Cain continued. "We know Superman is an immigrant, he's a freaking alien!" He exclaimed shortly before going on a racist rant about "illegal" immigrants and the people of Somalia. The interview was unhinged, hateful, and stood opposite of the version of Superman Cain once played in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, where he portrayed a loveable, thoughtful and highly moral Clark Kent.

Hurt fans on social media were quick to point out that Cain's Superman echoed the frustrated "immigrant" Superman in the James Gunn directed film, reminding the masses that back on March 2, 1997, an episode of Lois And Clark aired titled Meet John Doe. In the episode, villain Tempus uses mind control and his own sociopathic tendencies to get elected as President Of The United States Of America, and almost immediately goes on an anti-immigrant crusade and tries to get Superman deported, because he doesn't have a green card, due to his being sent from the no-longer available Planet Krypton. The episode hits home for those dealing with immigration and naturalization issues even in the modern era, and eerily mirrors events that would later shape 2025.

Screenshots from the episode went viral as fans also pointed out that Cain's mixed-race ancestry as being Japanese, French Canadian, Welsh and Irish, means that Cain is himself the descendant of immigrants, and therefore should show more consideration to the humanity of the immigrant, regardless of how they came to a land, which was built on the backs of trafficked slaves from Africa and on the soil of murdered Indigenous peoples, who were slain for their land by those from Europe.

In the wake of the ridiculously cruel interview, Fox News echoed the anti-immigrant sentiment by running multiple "news" programs throughout the day, where anchors decried Superman as being a "woke" character and insisting that if he isn't here legally - seeing as how his spaceship crash-landed in Kansas as an infant - that he should and "must" be deported.

But how would deporting Superman benefit America? In short, it just wouldn't. To the contrary, deporting a cultural icon that has spent decades encouraging kids to listen to their parents and be a help in the community sets the wrong example for children and ultimately does more harm than good.

So are there valid arguments one could bring up to a judge to advocate for Superman's citizenship? Plenty. From acts of heroism to the testimonials of those who he saved, there's a wealth of information Clark Kent could use to advocate for his status as a legal alien before having to ask fellow chum Bruce Wayne for a little cash advance to hire a good lawyer, but here's a few common sense examples outside of his job as an unpaid superhero worth taking to Fox News.

In a 1948 Superman serial, Clark Kent's adopted dad Pa Kent encouraged his son to stand up for truth, justice and tolerance, and he must have taken it to heart, as just two years later, a poster began circulating from DC Comics, advocating against racism. The poster - which has been shared on social media repeatedly since the 2000s - was the beginning of a partnership between DC and the National Social Welfare Assembly, where comics and other educational materials were drawn of Superman and Batman teaching children about the dangers of racism and showing kids how to stand up against fascism.

This was radical, seeing as how segregation was still a plague upon America at the time the posters went viral, and yet it wasn't so out-of-character for Superman, as he had already appeared in productions standing up to racists.

Granted, during World War 2, there are disgusting images of Supes mocking the Japanese, and there's absolutely no "that was then" excuses happening here, but post-war Superman has worked hard to be a better man.

Comics involving Superman in a post-9/11 world have him clapping back to racists, protecting immigrants and even taking bullets for the those targeted for their race.

True Christians believe in the mantra of "love thy neighbor" and this selfless Kryptonian embodies that very philosophy.

Superman has always fought against criminals. From petty thieves and drug dealers to overpowered space aliens and greedy billionaires, Superman has always fought the wicked, but he also knows when to use just enough restraint, so that law enforcement has a chance to arrest the villains before Superman lets his super-strength get the better of him. His deep-seated respect for police officers nationwide has made him an ally of justice for generations.

This respect for all things good comes as no surprise to older comic collectors, who are used to him fighting the good fight, especially as he has a long history of taking down the KKK and the Nazis.

Back in the 1940s, comics, serials and cartoons approved by DC featured Superman rescuing civilians from the clutches of these evil organizations, aiding the U.S. Government in strikes against those who spread hate and genocide. Superman's adoration for aiding the government in the fight against evil inspired generations to seek work in the military and air force.

While evidence of Superman's good moral character are easy to find in every form of media from cartoons to video games to movies and beyond, it is true that having a good rapport isn't always enough to prevent deportation. Adults and children are deported every year from America, and often placed in violent and deadly situations over paperwork, and yet while Fox News will tell you otherwise for attention, most of them are God-fearing people with morals every bit as solid as Clark Kent. Just as Kent endures a grueling 9-to-5 at the Daily Planet, so too do many deported immigrant toil for low wages in jobs the entitled are loathed to allow even their least-favorite offspring to apply for.

And if a clean record, good morals, a love of America and in Kent's case, a lifetime of selfless servitude to the United States Government isn't enough to negate deportation, then what else could stop ICE from collecting Superman into a confined travel container the same way they take a "Gotta Catch 'Em All Pokémon" style with immigrants, - both with and without "legal" status - indigenous people, sick children in hospitals and even just random American citizens who run afoul of the more skittish and sensitive GOP overlords?

... Probably the fact that Superman is a comic book character.

Yes, the most baffling - and quite frankly embarrassing - portion of this entire argument that Fox News spent the second and third weeks of July 2025 ranting about across all of their programming, is the fact that Superman, Clark Kent, The Man Of Steel, is a fictional character made of the same pen and ink as Betty Boop.

The fact that grown adults - many who have bred - are so spiteful towards immigrants that they are insisting upon the deportation of a cartoon character, speaks loudly about the need for free and routine mental healthcare in the United States, and also paints a picture of the relentless racism of conservative media.

If Superman is to be deported, then so too must other superheroes such as Wonder Woman, Katana, Martian Manhunter, Starfire, and potentially Aquaman, simply because they were not born on U.S. soil, and the same anti-immigrant racists attention-mad at Superman would also want to strip the legal status of folks like Aquaman, who obtained American citizenship sometime after joining the Justice League. The Justice League and all spin-offs of the Teen Titans would look far more bare if waves of deportations were to follow the loss of Superman's legal status.

And what does this teach children? That it's perfectly fine to destroy families, traumatize other kids and send millions of people into camps and off to countries they may not have ever known, just for a few random scraps of paper? To dismantle loving thy neighbor in favor of playing a never-ending game of Simon Says with immigration status? That your status as an American citizen rests on the whims and self-hurt egos of those within the GOP who can't get along with others?

Superman's legal status isn't what needs to be ripped apart. He is and always has been a cartoon character. America's issues with hate is what needs to be dismantled, and the sooner, the better.