Former first lady Michelle Obama said in a podcast published Monday that President Donald Trump’s immigration policies “keep her up at night” because she’s concerned illegal aliens will become victims of racism.
Obama led into the topic by telling “On Purpose” podcast host Jay Shetty that she and her brother Craig Robinson learned at an early age that “no one was going to see beyond the color of our skin.”
Shetty asked in response what she fears now.
“In this current climate, for me, it’s what’s happening to immigrants,” Obama replied.
“My fears are for what I know is happening out there in streets all over the city,” she said, referring to her hometown of Chicago, Fox News reported.
“Now that we have leadership that is sort of indiscriminately determining who belongs and who doesn’t,” Obama added. “And we know those decisions aren’t being made with courts and with due process.”
The former first lady argued that “bias” and “racism” are fueling the choices of who gets deported.
“I worry for people of color all over this country, and I don’t know that we will have the advocates to protect everybody,” Obama said. “And that makes me … that frightens me. It keeps me up at night.”
Border czar Tom Homan has said repeatedly that the administration is prioritizing those with criminal records, beyond entering the country illegally, for deportation.
He is also encouraging those without a criminal record, but not here legally, to self-deport.
The White House said in a fact sheet released Monday that since Trump took office, there have been 139,000 deportations.
“In President Trump’s first 50 days, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] arrested 32,809 illegal immigrants — nearly 75% of whom were accused or convicted criminals — virtually the same number of arrests over the entirety of Biden’s final year in office,” the White House said.
NEW: ICE announces they’ve deported 65,682 illegal aliens in the Trump administration’s first 100 days and they’ve arrested 66,463 illegal aliens, 75% of which have criminal charges or convictions. That includes 498 for murder, 1,329 for sex offenses, & 2,288 gang members. pic.twitter.com/UpDFHjq51W
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 29, 2025
Homan told reporters Monday that he does take pleasure in seeing the border secure and criminal illegal aliens being deported because it restores law and order and prevents harm.
“People always want to say, ‘Why are you so emotional when you testify [before Congress?]'” he recounted. “Because if they wore my shoes for 40 years, they’d understand why I’m emotional.”
.@RealTomHoman: “People always want to say why are you so emotional?… I’ve talked to little girls as young as nine years old who are raped multiple times by the cartel members. When you get to your knees and you talk to that little girl and everything innocent and pure has been… pic.twitter.com/L2tsrttbnJ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 28, 2025
“I’ve talked to little girls as young as nine years old who are raped multiple times by the cartel members,” Homan said. “When you get to your knees and you talk to that little girl and everything innocent and pure has been ripped from her. When you listen to Laken Riley, 17 minutes that young lady fighting for her life. Don’t just think a young woman died. Think of how she died, the terror that she went through.”
He concluded, “Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime. Every sick person we take off the streets, especially child rapists, makes this country much safer.”
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