Celebrities around the country are sharing their thoughts on the ICE immigration raids that began in Los Angeles last week.
Kim Kardashian took to her Instagram Stories to issue a statement.
“When we’re told that ICE exists to keep our country safe and remove violent criminals- great. But when we witness innocent, hardworking people being ripped from their families in inhumane ways, we have to speak up. We have to do what’s right,” she wrote.
“Growing up in LA, I’ve seen how deeply immigrants are woven into the fabric of this city. They are our neighbors, friends, classmates, coworkers, and family. No matter where you fall politically, it’s clear that our communities thrive because of the contributions of immigrants. We can’t turn a blind eye when fear and injustice keep people from living their lives freely and safely.There HAS to be a BETTER way.”
The Skims co-founder then posted a clip of Doechii’s acceptance speech from the BET Awards from the night before where she blasted the Trump administration over the raids and mobilization of the National Guard.
Meanwhile, actor and comedian John Leguizamo used his platform to share a video message to his followers.
“Your protests are beautiful. Protesting is as American as apple pie. But Trump wants to create a situation. He wants to be able to call on the Insurrection Act. He wants to create martial law so he can take over every government in every city and every state, so don’t give him that,” the actor pleaded to his followers. “Don’t give him what he wants. I mean, he’s trampling on all our democratic values of due process, of listening to courts and the judiciary. Just stay calm, stay peaceful. Don’t let don’t give him what he wants.”
He’s not the only person speaking out.
Standup comedian Gabriel Iglesias, who is a Los Angeles native, shared a post by comedian Alfred Robles to his Instagram Stories, where he was asking if his followers knew of any street vendors in the East L.A., Montebello, Whittier, and La Habra areas who were still working under these circumstances.
“I would like to donate to them so they could go home and be safe with their family,” Robles wrote after encouraging his followers to direct message him the information of those who fit this category.
Actress Eva Longoria also posted a video message on Instagram. She called the mass deportations “inhumane” and “hard to watch.” She noted that the discord around the situation was “un-American.”
“We all can agree, nobody wants criminals in our country, nobody wants rapists, nobody wants drug dealers, nobody wants bad actors in our country- that’s not what’s happening,” the film producer explained. “These roundups are happening in birthday parties, in elementary school graduations, Home Depot. Those are not criminals. I hope that everyone has more compassion for this issue and realizes we have industries dependent on immigrant labor.”
She went on to explain that “these are people who feed us and take care of us and take care of our families and our children and our communities and we can’t deny them as humans. We just can’t.”
“For those of you who keep yelling, ‘Well, you should’ve come here legally. Get in the back of the line,’ there is no line. This mythical line that people are talking about. There’s people have been waiting for citizenship for 25 years that have been ‘in line.’ I just ask for you guys to educate yourself, if you’re out there yelling ‘Good, they deserve this,’ no, they don’t. They’re hardworking people from my community, and I think we need to have more compassion for them. They want to just come here and work and provide for their families.”
In the post’s caption, she listed support organizations like the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, SEIU California, National Day Laborers Organizing Network, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, aka CHIRLA, and the day laborer program IDEPSCA.
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