The Trump Administration has fired back at Selena Gomez after the singer shared (and shortly deleted) a tearful video in which she apologized for the deportation of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
The White House shared a video featuring commentary from mothers of children who were killed by undocumented people with the caption, “Their courageous mothers had something to say to @SelenaGomez and those who oppose securing our borders.”
The video, featuring women whose children were tragically murdered by undocumented people, also calls Gomez’ character into question and baselessly implies she has no empathy for the victims, and was faking her reaction to the mass deportations.
Earlier this month Gomez, who is a third-generation Mexican American, said in her video, “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 soon took down the clip amid complaints from Trump supporters.
“Apparently it’s not OK to show empathy for people,” Gomez wrote in an Instagram Story after taking the video down.
On Friday the White House shared its response, which featured the mothers of Jocelyn Nungaray, Kayla Hamilton and Rachel Morin. Nungaray was killed by two undocumented man from Venezuela in June of last year. Hamilton was killed in 2022 by a teenage member of the MS-13 gang, and Morin was raped and murdered by Victor Martinez Hernandez, who entered the U.S. from El Salvador.
“Seeing that video, it’s hard to believe that it’s actually genuine and real because she’s an actress,” Nungaray’s mother Alexis says in the video. “My daughter was a child. There’s many other children whose lives were taken due to people who crossed here illegally.”
“You don’t know who you’re crying for. What about our children who were brutally murdered and raped and beat to death and left on the floor by these illegal immigrants?” asks Hamilton’s mother, Tammy Nobles.
Notably, Gomez in her original video was talking about children and other innocent people being deported despite the Trump administration’s claim the actions are targeted only at criminals. (Worth noting that by itself, being undocumented isn’t a crime, though crossing the border illegally is classified as a civil offense.)