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Kim Kardashian Lashes Out About Immigration Crack Down

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Kim Kardashian
Photo Credit: "Kim Kardashian 2018" by Ashley Graham is licensed under CC BY 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/?ref=openverse.

Kim Kardashian blasted President Donald Trump’s immigration policies while being celebrated for her high-profile criminal justice reform work.

The reality star and entrepreneur, honored Thursday night at Diane von Furstenberg’s DVF Awards in Venice, used her platform to weigh in on the ongoing immigration enforcement operations that have been at the center of national debate.

Before receiving her award, Kardashian sat down with journalists and offered pointed criticism of Trump’s crackdown.

“In the news you hear, ‘Oh, it’s about people who have committed these crimes and they’re trying to help out our country,’” she began. “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,” Kardashian continued. “You want to believe that there’s a powerful message in protection, but then you see that it’s not really happening like that.”

“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,” she added.

The reality star, who has been advocating for criminal justice reform for several years, has connected her activism not only to immigration debates but also to efforts to seek leniency for convicted criminals.

Kardashian has openly backed calls for reduced sentences for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who remain incarcerated after being convicted of killing their parents in 1989.

The Menendez brothers, whose infamous trial captivated the country in the early 1990s, were denied parole again in August.

A judge recently adjusted their sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life, but parole boards determined that both men still have issues that prevent their release.

Erik was told on August 21 that his parole would be denied for three years, with the decision citing fights, contraband, and even a reported role in a prison gang-related tax fraud scheme as far back as 2013.

According to reports, the board told him, “Contrary to your supporters’ beliefs, you have not been a model prisoner and frankly we find that a little disturbing.”

The following day, the board turned to Lyle, whose record included repeated use of contraband cellphones and inappropriate contact with female visitors.

Parole Commissioner Julie Garland cited Lyle’s “deception, minimization and rule breaking” while acknowledging his volunteer work behind bars.

She pointed to his “struggles with anti-social personality traits” as a continuing concern for denying to set him free.

Kardashian, when asked whether she would bring the Menendez brothers’ case to the White House as part of her broader criminal justice reform efforts, said she was open to it.

“[I] would love to,” she told Variety. “[They] are in a state prison so the governor is really in charge of that decision, but I would go to any administration and any White House to fight for the rights of people I believe in.”

Her advocacy has been most visible in Los Angeles, where she previously condemned Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts.

In June, she called ICE’s approach “inhumane,” insisting that hardworking families were being “torn apart” by deportations.

Her comments drew significant attention on social media, where she often uses her platform to weigh in on policy issues.

Kardashian used Instagram Stories to argue that Americans “have to speak up” and “do what’s right” in response to the administration’s actions.

“When we’re told that ICE exists to keep our country safe and remove violent criminals — great,” she wrote during a week of riots in Los Angeles.

“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.”

She also reminded her followers that immigrants are deeply tied into the city’s life.

“They are our neighbors, friends, classmates, coworkers, and family,” Kardashian said. “No matter where you fall politically, it’s clear that our communities thrive because of the contributions of immigrants.”

She insisted that there “HAS to be a BETTER way” to handle immigration enforcement.

The reality star’s criticism of Trump’s policies quickly drew a response from a senior Homeland Security official at the time, who blasted Kardashian for ignoring the criminal records of many of those being targeted by ICE.

Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin posted directly at Kardashian on X.

“@KimKardashian, which one of these convicted child molesters, murderers, drug traffickers and rapists would you like to stay in the county?” she wrote.

Her post included mugshots and criminal histories of several illegal immigrants arrested during recent ICE operations.

Included were Eswin Uriel Castro, a deported migrant convicted of child molestation and armed offenses; Gerardo Antonio-Palacios, a Mexican national with prior homicide and burglary convictions.

The post also included mugshots of Antonio Benitez-Ugarte, another Mexican national with a drug trafficking conviction; and Mab Khleb, a Cambodian immigrant with convictions for controlled substances, lewd acts with a child, and battery.

“These are just a few of the convicted illegal criminals who have been picked up in the last 72 hours,” McLaughlin wrote, countering Kardashian’s portrayal of ICE operations as indiscriminate.

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