As President Donald Trump follows through on his campaign promise to “mass” deport people living in the U.S. without legal status, Selena Gomez shared her emotional reaction on social media.
In a video that was reportedly posted to, and subsequently deleted from, her Instagram Story on Monday, the Golden Globe-nominated actress wiped away tears as she told her followers “I’m so sorry” and mourned how “All my people are getting attacked.”
“The children — I don’t understand,” the 32-year-old said, per screen recordings shared on social media, including by @PopBase. “I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something for the kids. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.” In text over the clip, she wrote “I’m sorry” and included the Mexican flag emoji.
USA TODAY has reached out to Gomez’s representative for comment.
In his first week in office, Trump declared a national border emergency; deployed 1,500 troops to the border, including a combat force; and deputized thousands more federal law enforcement officers to arrest immigrants, among other moves.
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The emergency declaration came as illegal border crossings are at their lowest level in more than five years. In early January, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported roughly 1,000 migrant encounters daily, from California to Texas – down 75% from a year ago.
Despite a pledge to reduce illegal immigration during his first term, Trump never achieved the level or annual pace of deportations that President Barack Obama did. The Department of Homeland Security recorded around 2 million deportations during Trump’s first term and 2.1 million during Obama’s second term.
Under the Biden administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement focused on arresting those who represented public safety and national security threats.
Last week, Trump and Congress – under the new Laken Riley Act – shifted the priority for immigration enforcement to more people in the U.S. without legal status, including those without serious criminal offenses, mandating detention for people accused, charged with or convicted of low-level crimes. Trump also declared criminal cartels as “global terrorist groups,” allowing the deployment of the military.
Selena Gomez on undocumented immigrants: ‘An issue I think about every day’
Gomez, who is third-generation Mexican American through her father, has been outspoken in the past about immigration being “an issue I think about every day.”
“In the 1970s, my aunt crossed the border from Mexico to the United States hidden in the back of a truck. My grandparents followed, and my father was born in Texas soon after. In 1992, I was born a U.S. citizen thanks to their bravery and sacrifice,” she wrote in a 2019 Time essay. “Over the past four decades, members of my family have worked hard to gain United States citizenship.”
“Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance,” she wrote. “But when I read the news headlines or see debates about immigration rage on social media, I feel afraid for those in similar situations. I feel afraid for my country.”
‘Emilia Pérez’ controversy:
Why the movie is being criticized for its representation
Discussing her involvement as an executive producer of the 2019 Netflix docuseries “Living Undocumented,” Gomez wrote, “I’m concerned about the way people are being treated in my country. As a Mexican-American woman I feel a responsibility to use my platform to be a voice for people who are too afraid to speak.
“And I hope that getting to know these eight families and their stories will inspire people to be more compassionate, and to learn more about immigration and form their own opinion.”
Gomez, born in Grand Prairie, Texas, has incorporated Spanish into her music and, most recently, in her starring role in the Oscar-nominated “Emilia Pérez.” However, some critics – including Eugenio Derbez,
who later walked back his “careless” comments – knocked her lack of fluency in the language, as well as the critically acclaimed film’s representation of drug trafficking in Mexico.
Contributing: Lauren Villagran, USA TODAY
