Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, and Eva Longoria have slammed U.S. President Donald Trump for authorising the use of tear gas to thwart desperate immigrants at the Mexican border.
U.S. border patrol officials were ordered to respond with force on Sunday after hundreds of men, women, and children reportedly rushed the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego, California, which had been closed due to public safety concerns.
Authorities claimed a number of migrants had thrown projectiles at officers, leading them to deploy tear gas in a bid to disperse the crowd.
Images of mothers running to safety with their crying babies have since gone viral, with stars condemning the harsh treatment of migrants on social media.
Rihanna made her feelings clear by sharing one such photo on Instagram, and simply captioning it, “terrorism”, while new mum Longoria, whose family hails from Mexico, expressed her disgust on her own page.
“This is not who we are as Americans,” she wrote. “Throwing tear gas at children? These are not criminals. These are families seeking shelter. Of course we have to protect our borders, but we should be using those resources to protect our country against terrorist. This is a baby IN A DIAPER. What are you thinking @realdonaldtrump ?? These are human beings. I beg you to treat them with compassion and treat them with dignity. They are fleeing drug torn countries that is historically due to an instability that WE caused. These are children and mothers seeking refuge. This photo has broken my heart and my belief in humanity.”
Former Destiny’s Child star Kelly raged, “I’m disgusted to wake up to such filth!”, as singer/actress Zendaya declared the controversial move “an abomination,” and Guardians of the Galaxy’s Zoe Saldana cried, “First we barbwire our borders and deny Asylum seekers the right to seek safe harbor, then we throw tear gas at them, and then we shoot them on sight???? What have we become???!!! #notmyamerica #notmypresident”.
Other celebrities to share their outrage at the treatment of migrants included Nancy Sinatra, George Takei, Patton Oswalt, and Alyssa Milano, who attacked Trump as a “piece of shit, asshole, motherfucking, evil-creature-person” after he defended the actions of border patrol agents on Twitter.
It’s the latest controversy to erupt over the Trump administration’s immigration policies following their previous practice of separating children from their parents for detainment upon crossing the Mexican border into the U.S. illegally.
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