Music star Selena Gomez has dismissed a US politician who said she should be “deported” after she posted a now-deleted video of herself crying during a recent immigration arrest.
Gomez, whose paternal grandparents emigrated from Mexico, initially posted a video to her Instagram Stories on Monday, sobbing amid the mass deportations initiated by President Donald Trump over the weekend. Gomez spoke through tears in the video that “my people are getting attacked.”
“I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something, but I can’t,” Gomez said. “I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.”
Gomez posted, then also deleted, a statement that said “apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people.”
Sam Parker, who ran for U.S. Senate in Utah in 2018, attacked Gomez on X, accusing her of picking undocumented immigrants over Americans because she is a “descendent” of Mexican immigrants who crossed the border illegally.
“She has an entitlement attitude toward America, like her illegal g’parents. Maybe Selena should be deported, too?” he wrote. He later quoted his own post simply saying “Deport Selena Gomez.”
Gomez responded in an Instagram Story on Monday night, which she also later deleted.
“Oh Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker,” Gomez wrote. “Thanks for the laugh and the threat.”
