Selena Gomez, the famous singer and actress, has reacted with irony to a former Republican candidate for the US Senate, who demanded that she be "deported" after a video in which she expressed pity for immigrants affected by the Trump administration's deportation operations.
After former Republican candidate Sam Parker suggested she leave the country, Gomez responded via social media with a short but poignant message: "Thank you for making me laugh."
What happened?
It all started when Gomez, born in the US to Mexican-American grandparents, posted a video where she was seen wiping away tears and saying: "I'm so sad. My people are being attacked, my children... I don't understand. I would like to do something, but I can't. I'm going to try with everything I have."
The video drew the attention of the Trump administration, including comments from Tom Homan, the acting border official, who defended the deportation operations by claiming (without evidence) that they were only targeting people with criminal records. He challenged Gomez and other critics to change the law in Congress if they disagreed.
Meanwhile, Parker — who previously ran for the Utah Senate — called Gomez a person with an “excessive sense of entitlement” and even insulted her by calling her “a descendant of Mexican outlaws.” In another post, he simply wrote: “Deport Selena Gomez.”
Gomez's family history
Selena Gomez was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, and is a full-fledged American citizen. Her paternal grandparents, Mary and Ricardo Gomez, immigrated from Monterrey, Mexico, in the 1970s and managed to obtain citizenship after two decades in the United States.
Despite pressure and attacks from the conservative right, Gomez, who lives in California, has chosen to respond to the situation with calm and humor - showing once again that she has no intention of remaining silent on issues that affect her community and values.
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