The White House is the latest to take aim at Selena Gomez for a now-deleted video she posted of herself crying during recent immigration crackdowns.
In a video of their own, the White House featured the mothers of two women and a 12-year-old girl who were killed by convicted undocumented migrants.
Tammy Nobles, the mother of Kathy Hamilton, who was killed and raped in a Maryland mobile home by El Salvadorian national Walter Javier Martinez, said to Gomez, “You don’t know who you’re crying for.”
“What about our children who were brutally murdered, and raped and beat to death and left on the floor by these illegal immigrants?” Nobles asked.
The video, shared on X by press secretary Karoline Leavitt and tagging Gomez, featured snapshots from the actress’ video, in which she cried about feeling helpless amid the recent mass deportations initiated by President Donald Trump. The video was posted to her Instagram story Monday but was subsequently taken down following backlash.
“I’m so sorry, I wish I could do something, but I can’t,” Gomez, whose paternal grandparents emigrated from Mexico, said in the video. “I don’t know what to do. I’ll try everything, I promise.”
Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, said she feels Gomez’ video is “a ruse to deceive people and garner sympathy for lawlessness.”
Rachel Morin, a mother of five, was found dead on Maryland’s Ma and Pa trail in 2023. Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, was arrested in connection with her murder. He allegedly came to the U.S. without permission after fleeing El Salvador, where authorities were seeking him in the death of a young woman there, according to a Maryland official.
Alexis Nungaray, whose 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn Nungaray, was found dead last summer, said its hard to believe what Gomez said in her video “because she’s an actress.”
Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Pena, 26, were charged with capital murder of a child in connection with Nungaray’s death. Both suspects had immigration violation holds from Immigration and Customs Enforcement on their court records.
The 12-year-old’s murder was the subject of debate between Trump and former President Joe Biden last year, with Trump taking to Truth Social to blame the Biden administration’s border policies for her death. The Biden campaign hit back, pointing to Trump’s role in sinking a bipartisan border deal in Congress.
Nungaray’s mother said she appreciates the recent immigration policies Trump has implemented.
“It’s only been two weeks, if that, since he’s been in office and he’s taking accountability, and he’s making moves, and he’s making things happen,” Nungaray said in the White House video.
Nobles and Morin criticized what they said was a lack of concern for what happened to their daughters.
“They didn’t cry for our daughters,” Nobles said.
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