Selena Gomez reacts to Republican politician’s call for her deportation following her emotional video featuring the Mexican flag.
Selena Gomez hit back at Republican politician Sam Parker after he suggested she should be deported, following the release of her emotional video earlier this week.
The video seemed to address President Donald Trump’s recent immigration crackdown.
Parker, a 2018 Republican Senate candidate from Utah, posted on X, «Deport Selena Gomez,» criticizing her video shortly after it was shared.
In response, Gomez took to Instagram Stories, writing over a black background, “Oh, Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker. Thanks for the laugh and the threat.”
The video, which was later deleted, showed Gomez sharing her feelings about the recent wave of deportations in the U.S.
She included the text “I’m sorry” and the Mexican flag emoji, while expressing sorrow for the families affected.
“All my people are getting attacked, the children,” she said in the video.
“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.”
In a follow-up post, Gomez added, “Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people.”
Her posts came a day after a major immigration operation saw 956 arrests, the largest since Trump took office, according to ICE.
The crackdown was part of ongoing immigration enforcement, with a reported 1.5 million deportations carried out during Joe Biden’s first four years—figures that mirrored those from Trump’s administration, per the Migration Policy Institute.
Gomez, who has long advocated for immigration reform, produced the Netflix docuseries Living Undocumented, which highlighted the struggles of undocumented families.
Her advocacy is personal, as she has shared that her own family’s journey across the border shaped her views.
In a 2019 op-ed for Time, she revealed that her aunt was the first in her family to cross the border from Mexico to the U.S., starting a journey that led to her father being born in Texas.
She wrote, «Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance.»
