To mark Valentine’s Day, the White House posted a meme across its X, Instagram, and Facebook social media accounts. The post included a new take on the popular “roses are red, violets are blue” refrain. But in lieu of a traditional love poem, the White House instead came up with a rhyme that targeted illegal immigration.
“Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally, and we’ll deport you,” the text of the Valentine’s Day message read. Against a pink backdrop, the poem was accompanied by the faces of President Donald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan. The caption read “Happy Valentines Day,” with a red heart emoji.
Various organizations have since come out to condemn the post.
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Voto Latino, an organization that works to engage Latino communities in the voting process, called the post “offensive and divisive.”
“This post was deliberately crafted to provoke and sow division, but the struggles of immigrant families are not a joke,” the organization said. “Using a lighthearted holiday to demean and target communities is not only irresponsible—it is beneath the dignity of the presidency.”
Elsewhere, the Hispanic Federation spoke out against the post, saying that more people need to “step up” and say they will not tolerate this kind of commentary. Frankie Miranda, President and CEO of Hispanic Federation, said: “Let me be clear, this action from the White House is not a lighthearted joke.”
Miranda went on to reference when a comedian called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” at a Trump rally last year, highlighting that “this is already a pattern that is beneath the Office of the President of the United States.”
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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also responded to the poem on X. “You may not take your job seriously, but we do,” the organization posted. “Your deportations are inhumane, they’re killing the American economy and they’re separating our families.”
The White House’s Valentine’s Day post comes as Trump begins to implement his immigration enforcement efforts and policies, which include targeting sanctuary cities, the intent to progress with mass deportations, efforts to redefine birthright citizenship, and the declaration of a national emergency at the Southern border of the U.S. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also embarked upon raids to ramp up deportation efforts.
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