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Selena Gomez has spoken out following the removal of a video in which she expressed her distress over President Donald Trump’s recent deportation raids.

The Emilia Pérez star shared an emotional clip on her Instagram story on Monday, 27 January, reacting to Trump’s immigration-related executive orders—particularly his plan for “mass deportations.”

Gomez, who is of Mexican-American heritage, appeared visibly upset in the video, stating: “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.” The clip was captioned “I’m sorry” alongside a Mexican flag emoji.

Shortly after posting, Gomez deleted the video and followed up with a since-removed statement: “Apparently, it’s not ok to show empathy for people.”

The controversy comes as the US Defence Department announced plans to use military aircraft to deport over 5,000 individuals detained by Border Patrol in San Diego and El Paso, Texas. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), more than 1,000 people were removed or repatriated on Thursday, 23 January—just days after the Trump-Vance administration took office.

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Trump has also reinstated expedited deportations for undocumented migrants, a policy that had been discontinued under President Biden. Previously, such removals were limited to individuals apprehended within 100 miles of the US border who had not sought asylum or failed to meet asylum criteria. However, under Trump’s new executive orders, deportations can now take place anywhere in the US and will apply to undocumented individuals unable to prove they have resided in the country for more than two years.

During Trump’s first presidency, approximately 5,500 children were separated from their parents. Experts fear that the administration’s latest immigration policies will lead to further family separations.

According to the American Immigration Council, around 4.4 million US-born children have undocumented parents. Additionally, the Pew Research Center estimates that of the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the US, many have minor children who are American citizens and, therefore, cannot be deported.

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