The White House has released a video condemning singer and actress Selena Gomez after she shared an emotional plea about the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
The post, titled “Moms of Victims of Illegal Aliens SLAM Selena Gomez: You Didn’t Cry for Our Daughters,” was published on the White House’ official handle on Friday and features the three mothers of the children were allegedly killed by undocumented individuals. The video has each grieving mother watching Selena’s now-deleted Instagram clip and slamming her for breaking down in tears over the deportation of illegal immigrants.
In the White House video, the mothers of victims of various crimes by illegal immigrants, slam Gomez for what they perceive as a one-sided view on immigration. “Seeing that video, it’s hard to believe that it’s actually genuine and real because she’s an actress,” said Alexis Nungaray, whose daughter, Jocelyn Nungaray, was allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant.
Tammy Nobles, the mother of Kayla Hamilton, added, “You don’t know who you’re crying for. What about our children who were brutally murdered and raped and beaten to death and left on the floor by these illegal immigrants? They didn’t cry for our daughters.”
Patty Morin, whose daughter Rachel Morin was also allegedly killed by an undocumented person, claimed Gomez was “trying to deceive people and garner sympathy for lawlessness.”
In the original clip, posted on Monday, Gomez expressed distress over the impact of immigration policies that has led to a crackdown and swift deportation of undocumented individuals. “I’m sorry,” she captioned the video that saw her weeping as she delivered her message to “all my people.” In the clip, she says, “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.”
Amid strong backlash on and off social media, the pop star deleted the video and wrote, “Apparently it’s not OK to show empathy for people.” However, despite deleting the video, it continued to be shared widely on various social media sites.
Since the post went viral, several fans, fellow Americans, politicians and netizens alike have been slamming the actress. Some even called for her to be deported, which the singer laughed off.
Gomez, who is of Mexican American heritage, has been an outspoken advocate for immigrant rights for years. She previously produced the documentary Living Undocumented, which followed the struggles of eight families navigating the U.S. immigration system.
Gomez has not yet directly responded to the White House’s latest post.
On the personal front, the singer whose net worth is estimated to be over $1 billion, announced her engagement to music producer Benny Blanco. The couple is gearing up to wed soon.
