Entertainment
Khloe Kardashian's Immigration Comments Encouraged Her Fans To Take Action
Over the last week, there's been an overwhelming amount of coverage, photos, media, and backlash pertaining to President Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy and its unfortunate effects. In light of the recent events, new mom Khloé Kardashian's immigration comments via her Instagram Story and Twitter on June 22, mostly coming from her personal perspective of being a mom.
Over the last month, the family separation policy has displaced thousands of children, taking them away from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Kardashian, who welcomed her first daughter Trust in mid-April, took to Instagram and Twitter to give her thoughts on immigration on June 22. She wrote in the IG story post and Twitter:
"As a new mommy, there is nothing in this world more important to me than my baby girl. It has been heartbreaking to watch what has been going on at the border, and impossible to comprehend that we live in a country where children are torn from the arms of their parents, who are dealt the ultimate punishment for wanting a better life for their families."
Kardashian continued by asking fans to take action:
"Whether you believe that refugees should be allowed into this country or not, this is not how human beings treat each other. This is not how we foster love and acceptance. This is not who are are. There are thousands of children now separated from their parents and we must not let these children be forgotten, not can we let this moment be forgotten. We have to do better than this. Please tweet, talk, call, post, write, donate. Xo"
Celebrities such as Kardashian have been vocal about Trump's immigration policy and have been speaking out via social media. According to Time, more than 2,000 children have been taken away from their families since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the policy in April. The policy stated that all cases of illegal entry into America would be taken to the border for prosecution. Further, Border Patrol agents were to separate children from their parents because "children cannot be locked up for the crimes of their mothers and fathers."
On Thursday, Republican House leaders postponed a vote on a broad immigration bill and Trump killed the immigration bill with the following tweet he posted Friday morning:
On June 21, First Lady Melania Trump received backlash for a jacket she wore before boarding a flight to pay a visit to a Texas facility housing migrant children separated from their parents. The back of the Zara jacket reads, “I really don’t care, do u?” and it caused outrage from celebrities and social media users. Melania Trump’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, responded to the criticism to Fox News, saying, "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe. (Much like her high heels last year)."
Billy Eichner tweeted about the jacket and Chelsea Handler also tweeted, pointing out, "The hypocrisy of @FLOTUS going down to the border to speak broken English to our refugees in that dumb jacket is a little hard to swallow." And comedian Jane Lynch wrote, “Is the first lady of the U.S. so unfamiliar with English that she doesn’t know what the back of her jacket says?” Actor Busy Philipps posted a photo of herself wearing a shirt that said, "I do care. Do u?" Her tweet pointed her fans to the website Families Belong Together.
It would be powerful to see if Khloé and other stars take their efforts a step further by taking action beyond Instagram posts and tweets. Maybe soon, Gina Rodriguez's action to give an immigrant student a scholarship using Emmy campaigning money won't be such a unique occurrence.