Selena Gomez speaks out after deleting distraught reaction video to Trump’s deportation raids
Selena Gomez has addressed a since-deleted video of herself crying about Trump deportation raids. (Presley Ann/Getty Images for Palm Springs International Film Society)
Selena Gomez has spoken out after she deleted a video showing her distraught reaction to President Donald Trump’s deportation raids.
The Emilia Pérez star took to her Instagram story on Monday (27 January) to respond to Trump’s immigration-related executive orders – in particular, his pledge for “mass deportations”.
Gomez, whose heritage is Mexican-American, said in the clip: “All my people are getting attacked, the children.
“I don’t understand. I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something but I can’t. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise,” she concluded in the video. The clip was captioned “I’m sorry” with an emoji of the Mexican flag.
She later removed the video from her story and wrote in a since-deleted statement: “Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people.”
The US Defence Department has said it will utilise military aircraft to deport over 5,000 people who are detained by Border Patrol in San Diego and El Paso, Texas. As per U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) statistics, over 1,000 people were removed or repatriated on Thursday (23 January) – just four days after the Trump-Vance administration began.
Trump also began to expedite deportations of undocumented migrants, a policy which Biden had discontinued during his tenure. Previously, expedited removals were previously limited to areas within 100 miles of US international borders, and applied to migrants who did not request asylum or failed to show a legitimate case to seek asylum.
However, Trump’s executive orders mean such removals can now occur anywhere within the US, and will apply to undocumented migrants who cannot prove that they have remained in the country for over two years.
During Trump’s first term, around 5,500 children were separated from their parents. Experts fear that Trump’s mass deportation means that more families will be separated.
As per the American Immigration Council, 4.4 million children who are U.S. citizens have parents who are undocumented. The Pew Research Center reports that out of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country, a large amount have children who are minors who are U.S. citizens and therefore cannot legally be deported.
If this story has affected you, head to Freedom For Immigrants for resources for people facing detention or risk of deportation, their families and loved ones, and advocates. Para estos recursos en español haga clic aqui. You can also call the Family Support line at 209-757-3733 Monday-Friday from 8 am – 2 pm PT / 11 am to 5 pm ET.
How did this story make you feel?
