Jake Lang, a Republican Senate hopeful and Donald Trump pardon recipient, is under fire after suggesting that members of the far-right Proud Boys should be “deputized” to “bounty hunt” migrants in the United States.
Lang, who hopes to challenge Senator Marco Rubio for his Florida seat, made the controversial remarks in an interview with Newsweek, where he proposed using members of extremist groups to enforce immigration laws. “I would deputize the Proud Boys and the January 6 Patriots to bounty hunt illegal immigrants,” Lang said.
The Proud Boys, founded in 2016 by Gavin McInnes, co-founder of Vice Media, are a far-right, all-male organization known for violent street clashes and extremist ideology. The group self-identifies as “Western chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” Their core tenets include closing the border, ending welfare, and promoting traditional gender roles, which they describe as “venerating the housewife.”
Lang elaborated on his plan, saying “We would offer a bounty and work with local sheriffs … to give legal access to have these people join en masse and work alongside federal law enforcement to provide tips, information, and make arrests of these illegal immigrants.”
The Proud Boys, whose members were heavily involved in the January 6 Capitol riots, have long been associated with pro-Trump extremism. During a 2020 presidential debate, when asked to condemn white supremacist groups, Trump infamously responded, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” a remark widely interpreted as encouragement.
Lang himself was accused of participating in the January 6 insurrection but never stood trial. He was among the nearly 1,600 individuals pardoned by Trump after the former president’s return to office.
His comments come amid heightened tensions surrounding immigration enforcement in the U.S. Following recent ICE raids in major cities, the Department of Homeland Security faced backlash for releasing a video depicting immigration arrests edited with the Pokémon theme song and the caption “Gotta Catch ’Em All.”
The Pokémon Company International later confirmed it had no involvement in the creation or distribution of the controversial clip.