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Selena Gomez claps back at Republican candidate who suggested she be deported

Selena Gomez doesn’t appear to be fazed by those threatening to deport her. 

The 32-year-old “Only Murders in the Building” star took to her Instagram Stories Jan. 27 to share her thoughts on President Donald Trump clamping down on illegal immigration. 

“All my people are getting attacked,” Gomez said with tears streaming down her face, according to video shared by Pop Crave on X. 

“I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something for the kids. I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise,” she continued. 

Gomez, who was born in the U.S., is the grandchild of once-illegal immigrants who entered the country in the 1970s before gaining citizenship nearly two decades later.

The post, which was deleted within hours of being uploaded, sparked outrage on social media as Republicans and Trump supporters questioned her patriotism. 

Shocked by the criticism, Gomez quickly replaced the video with a follow-up post. “Apparently it’s not ok to show empathy for people,” she wrote, according to People.

One of her harshest critics was Sam Parker, a Republican who ran for the U.S. Senate in Utah in 2018. 

“Selena Gomez picked illegals over America b/c she’s the 3rd gen descendent of Mexican illegals who received citizenship in the ’87 Amnesty,” Parker wrote on his personal X account. 

Parker was referring to a law signed by then-President Ronald Reagan as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986. 

The amnesty allowed undocumented immigrants who entered the United States before 1982 to apply for legal status. Nearly three million immigrants were granted citizenship as a result, according to NPR.

“She has an entitlement attitude toward America, like her illegal g’parents. Maybe Selena should be deported, too?” Parker continued on X. 

He then shared his post on his work account with a simple message: “Deport Selena Gomez.” 

To be clear, as a citizen of the U.S. who was born in the country, Gomez can’t legally be deported. 

Parker also shared screenshots of a 2021 Los Angeles Times article detailing how her grandparents “first migrated to Texas from Monterrey, Mexico during the 1970s.” 

In the article, Gomez says it took her grandparents 17 years to gain citizenship in the United States — referring to the amnesty. 

Gomez posts simple response to Parker’s ‘threat’

As criticism grew louder, Gomez took to her Instagram Stories to post a simple response to Parker. 

“Oh, Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker. Thanks for the laugh and the threat,” she wrote over a black background, according to photos shared by People. 

Parker then posted a response of his own before deleting it. 

“Inject their tears into my VEINS. I dragged Selena Gomez pretty hard today,” he bragged on X, according to Daily Mail. 

The intense back-and-forth came a day after the Trump administration arrested more than 1,800 illegal immigrants, who are now in the process of being deported. 

According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), per BBC, 593 arrests were made on Friday — followed by 286 on Saturday and 956 on Sunday. 

Gomez has been vocal with her support for undocumented immigrants in the past, even producing a Netflix docuseries, “Living Undocumented,” in 2019. 

She also wrote an op-ed for “Time” that same year, in which she talked about her family’s experience with immigration. 

“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,” she wrote at the time.

Gomez further clarified that her aunt was the first of her family to cross the border, followed by her grandparents — who gave birth to Gomez’s father not long after. 

“When I read the news headlines or see debates about immigration rage on social media, I feel afraid for those in similar situations. I feel afraid for my country,” she added. 

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