Kim Kardashian recently criticized President Donald Trump‘s ICE raids — and Homeland Security issued a direct response to the reality star.
On Thursday, August 28, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star, 44, participated in a roundtable at Diane von Furstenberg‘s DVF Awards in Venice. Kardashian was honored for her prison reform work at the event, where she was asked about Trump’s ICE raids.
“In the news you hear, ‘Oh, it’s about people who have committed these crimes and they’re trying to help out our country,’” Kardashian said, per Variety. “But then you hear about all of the people who have worked so hard to build our country, and so many people that are such a part of our country getting affected. People I know. People my friends know.”
The SKIMS mogul and mom of four then shared that she thinks the ICE raids are doing more harm than good.
“You want to believe that there’s a powerful message in protection, but then you see that it’s not really happening like that,” Kardashian continued. “It’s really tough, but I think that we have to do what we can to protect the people that have really supported and built our country.”
Kim Kardashian attends the 2024 Kering for Women dinner at The Pool on September 9, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Later that day, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin sent a blunt message to the Kardashians reality star.
“Ms. Kardashian is misinformed and detached from the very reality of the operations in Los Angeles she has decided to opine on,” McLaughlin told TMZ.
“These are the violent criminals who Homeland Security, under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, have removed from Los Angeles’s streets: murderers, rapists, gang members and child pedophiles,” she added. “Why does Ms. Kardashian continue to do the bidding of criminals at the expense of innocent Americans and brave law enforcement?”
As of writing, Kardashian has not responded to McLaughlin’s statement.
This week wasn’t the first time she hasn’t spoke out against the Trump administration’s ICE raids. In June, Kardashian took to her Instagram Stories with a pointed message.
In June, Kim spoke out against the Trump admin’s ICE raids on social media, arguing that Trump’s immigration policy is negatively impacting “innocent, hardworking” immigrants.
“When we’re told that ICE exists to keep our country safe and remove violent criminals – great,” she wrote, per Page Six. “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.”
Kardashian pointed out that “our communities thrive because of the contributions of immigrants,” who “are our neighbors, friends, classmates, coworkers, and family.” She concluded, “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 Kardashians, streaming on Hulu