Superstar Selena Gomez’s tears over the deportation of illegal aliens are misplaced, as far as supporters of President Trump are concerned.
The actress-singer was excoriated after posting a video Monday on Instagram – and then deleting it hours later – showing her sobbing over the Trump administration’s immigration-enforcement sweeps. The post included a Mexican flag emoji.
“I just want to say that I’m so sorry. All my people are getting attacked. The children. They don’t understand,” said Ms. Gomez, who stars in the Oscar-nominated film “Emilia Perez” and the Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building.” “I’m so sorry. I wish I could do something, but I can’t.”
Ms. Gomez, who was born in Texas to parents of Mexican and Italian ancestry, quickly became the focus of a back-and-forth over illegal immigrants targeted for deportation, many of whom have criminal records, versus the victims of their crimes.
“’My people?’ Aren’t you American?” asked TurningPoint USA founder Charlie Kirk on X. “Where was the sobbing over the 100,000 Americans dead from fentanyl poisoning? Where were these tears over the 340,000 children who went missing after being trafficked over our border?”
Rep. Monica De La Cruz, Texas Republican, blasted what she called the star’s “crocodile tears” as well as “Emilia Perez,” the fictional story of a Mexican drug lord who undergoes a gender transition.
“I represent a 90% Mexican-American border community,” Ms. De La Cruz said on X. “Where was she when the cartels targeted our kids? It’s ALL fake — just like her TERRIBLE ’film.’”
Trump border czar Tom Homan responded to a question about Ms. Gomez’s tearful reaction by saying he has “no apologies” for the deportations.
“I don’t think we’ve arrested any families. We’ve arrested public safety threats,” Mr. Homan said Monday on Fox News Channel. “President Trump won the election on this one issue, securing our border and saving lives.”
Under the Biden administration, he said, there were 2 million known “got-aways”; a 600% increase in sex trafficking, and a record number of border-crossers on the terrorist watch list.
“We’re going to do this job and we’re going to enforce the laws of this country,” Mr. Homan said. “If they don’t like it, then go to Congress and change the law.”
Ms. Gomez swung back with a post saying, “Apparently it’s not okay to show empathy for people,” as tracked by the Selena Gomez News account.
She also tangled with Sam Parker, who lost his 2018 bid for the Republican nomination for a Utah U.S. Senate seat, after he said on X: “Deport Selena Gomez.”
Ms. Gomez replied: “Oh Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker. Thanks for the laugh and the threat.”
Those defending the actress-singer included television journalist Geraldo Rivera.
“Selena Gomez should be commended for her compassion and sincerity. People attacking her on social media should be ashamed,” he said on X. “You can disagree without being disagreeable. We need comprehensive immigration reform. We can’t arrest our way out of our immigration crisis. Bravo Selena.”
Ms. Gomez is a longtime advocate for illegal immigrants, including serving as executive producer of the 2019 Netflix series “Living Undocumented.”
Recent polls show Ms. Gomez’s views are out of tune with those of the American public.
An Axios/Ipsos poll released Jan. 19 found 66% of Americans surveyed support deporting illegal immigrants, while a New York Times/Ipsos poll issued Jan. 18 found 87% favor deporting illegal immigrants who have criminal records.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.