Selena Gomez sparks backlash after video sobbing over Trump’s immigration crackdown
Selena Gomez has responded to backlash after sharing a video of herself crying.
The Disney star-turned-pop-princess took to Instagram tonight with an incredibly emotional clip as she expressed her feelings on Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Since being re-elected to serve a second term as president, the Trump administration has increased deportation efforts at the southern border.
Sharing her reaction to Trump’s threat to deport masses of undocumented immigrants, Gomez, 32, sobbed to the camera as she apologised for the fear that has struck countless families.
‘I just wanna say that I am so sorry,’ began the Only Murders in the Building actress.
Wiping her eyes and visibly distressed, she continued: ‘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.’
Gomez continued through tears: ‘I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.’
However, after the video was posted to her 422million followers, Gomez received criticism.
Some argued that her crying felt ‘performative,’ while others, who are in support of Trump’s politics, said the information was ‘not true’.
Right-wing political host Tomi Lahren also slammed her, taking to X to brand Gomez a ‘certified moron’.
‘This is why we don’t take our political advice from Disney child stars,’ she wrote.
Gomez deleted her post and then shared a black screen with the text: ‘Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people’.
Fans of the Fetish hitmaker have since come out in droves to defend her, with X user ultravlcz writing: ‘it’s insane how selena gomez is the first celebrity (i think) showing this kind of empathy for people in real time and still manage to receive hate for it…’
Sharing photos of Gomez’s family, tonightwalker wrote: ‘selena gomez’s mexican grandparents risked everything to cross the border in search of a better life, living for years without security before finally gaining citizenship. and yet, people question why this issue means so much to her’.
Meanwhile, americanreqiuem posted a video from another project of Gomez’s, writing: ‘In 2019, Selena Gomez produced a Netflix documentary titled “Living Undocumented” chronicling the lives of undocumented families in the United States. She also speaks on her grandparents being Mexican immigrants. This isn’t the first time she’s spoken on this matter.’
In the clip, Gomez sobs as she says: ‘I don’t even think people realise that my family also has a background… my grandparents were immigrants.
‘To just think about the life that I’ve been given and how blessed I am… my hope is that I see change.’
Gomez, who was born in Texas, also spoke in the documentary about her aunt crossing the border from Mexico into America in the 1970s via the back of a truck.
Her paternal grandparents, Ricardo and Mary, followed her to the States and, once there, welcomed Gomez’s father.
Gomez has a history of speaking out on matters that she is passionate about, having written an essay for Time magazine in which she said: ‘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 added that when she reads news headlines or sees debates about ‘immigration rage’ on social media, it makes her feel ‘afraid for those in similar situations’ and ‘afraid for [her] country’.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), on Sunday, a ‘nationwide immigration crackdown resulted in the arrest of 956 people,’ which is ‘the most since Trump returned to power.’
Selena Gomez sparks backlash after video sobbing over Trump’s immigration crackdown