Selena Gomez broke down in tears over US’ mass deportation raids.
Tom Homan, US President Donald Trump’s border czar, has reacted to Selena Gomez’s anguish over recent mass deportation raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The singer-actress, whose father is Mexican, shared an emotional Instagram video on Monday, describing the arrests as an attack on “all my people.”
In the video, Ms Gomez broke down in tears, saying, “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.” Her caption read, “I’m sorry,” and included a Mexican flag emoji. The post received backlash, prompting Ms Gomez to delete the video.
Responding to the viral reaction, Tom Homan dismissed the criticism of ICE’s actions, saying, “I don’t think we arrested any families. We’ve arrested public safety threats and national security threats, bottom line.”
Defending the crackdown, Mr Homan called the situation at the southern border the “biggest national security threat” in his lifetime. He pointed to a “600 per cent increase in sex trafficking” and the presence of terrorists on the watchlist attempting to cross the border as justifications for the raids. “We’re going to do this job, and we’re going to enforce the laws of this country. If they don’t like it, then go to Congress and change the law,” he added firmly.
JUST IN: Border Czar Tom Homan reacts to Selena Gomez’s viral breakdown, says he has “no apologies” and he is going to keep moving forward.
The reaction we’ve all been waiting for.
“If they don’t like it, then go to Congress and change the law.”
“We’re going to do this… pic.twitter.com/OQv9Vdhj4V
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 27, 2025
“No apologies. We’re moving forward to make our communities safer,” Mr Homan concluded, citing the potential reduction in fentanyl deaths, illegal alien crimes, and human trafficking as outcomes of stricter border enforcement.
The comments came after ICE’s largest deportation operation since Trump’s return to office, which saw a total of 956 arrests on Sunday. The operation followed 286 arrests on Saturday, 593 on Friday, and 538 on Thursday. According to a BBC report, the crackdown targeted individuals ICE described as public safety and national security threats. Mr Homan oversaw the operation in Chicago.
Despite the criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, data from the Migration Policy Institute reveals that deportation numbers under Joe Biden’s administration mirrored those of Trump’s first term, with 1.5 million deportations carried out during Biden’s presidency.
Selena Gomez, who has been a vocal advocate for immigrant rights, previously produced the Netflix docuseries Living Undocumented in 2019, showing the struggles of undocumented families in the US.
