Pop star Selena Gomez spoke out against U.S. Immigration policy in a Time op-ed published Monday, in which the Netflix producer admits that her family began illegally immigrating to the U.S. from Mexico in the 1970s.
“Over the past four decades, members of my family have worked hard to gain United States citizenship. Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance,” Gomez writes.
But Gomez went on to say she has “fears” when people begin posting angry things on social media about immigration.
“But when I read the news headlines or see debates about immigration rage on social media, I feel afraid for those in similar situations. I feel afraid for my country,” she said in the article.
She admits she is no policy expert but insists that immigration “goes beyond politics” and is also “a human issue.”
Gomez went on to publicize her new Netflix series highlighting the lives if several immigrants living illegally in the U.S.
The series, titled Living Undocumented, follows the lives of eight families of illegals as they circumvent U.S. immigration laws by living in the U.S. while attempting to avoid deportation. Gomez is the executive producer of the series that will debut on Netflix on October 2.
Gomez wrote of some of the people in her series including an illegal immigrant who was accepted into college but whose brothers went into hiding after their father was picked up by immigration officials.
“They can’t go home, and they rarely sleep at night. They’re afraid that their time is running out. Camilo told me that his biggest fear isn’t being deported, it’s being forgotten and becoming another faceless statistic,” Gomez claimed.
The pop star said she knew she would face criticism for the series. “But the truth is, the worst criticism I can imagine is still nothing compared to what undocumented immigrants face every day,” she wrote.
Regardless, Gomez claimed she is “concerned about the way people are being treated in my country.”
“Fear shouldn’t stop us from getting involved and educating ourselves on an issue that affects millions of people in our country. Fear didn’t stop my aunt from getting into the back of that truck. And for that, I will always be grateful,” she concluded.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.