Swedish pop star Zara Larsson attacked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), saying the agency is the reason her partner has been banned from entering the United States for years.
Larsson shared a series of Instagram stories on Saturday criticising ICE, which has been under intense scrutiny following the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal agent in Minneapolis last week. Her posts went viral.
“I love immigrants, I love criminals, I love trans people, I love abortions, I love queers, I love slutty women, I love contraception, I love welfare, I love socialism, I f***ing hate ICE,” she wrote.
After receiving messages questioning why she said she loved criminals, Larsson explained that her personal life was directly affected by US immigration rules. She said her long-time partner has been unable to visit the US because of a past criminal record, reports NME.
“The reason why my sweet, smart, generous, talented, thoughtful man can’t come to the US – AT ALL – to visit me ever since we got together 6 years ago is because he has a criminal record,” she wrote. “Guess for what? WEED! Hahahahaha like?? Who gives a f**ing f**k?!?”
Larsson is dating Swedish dancer Lamin Holmén. She clarified that he no longer has a criminal record, saying it had been so long since the incident that it had been officially cleared. Despite that, she said he is still barred from entering the US.
She went on to criticise the criminal justice system and argued that people are jailed for non-violent offences in US. She added that enforcement unfairly targets minorities.
“It ends up being black and brown people” who are arrested most often, she claimed.
Larsson’s posts became more confrontational as she compared ICE agents to criminals. “Idk about yall but I’d rather have someone smoking crack on my couch than a f**king ICE agent ewwwwwwwww,” she wrote. “They’re criminals too. Killing, kidnapping, violent, hateful ones.”
Her comments came days after Renee Nicole Good was killed few days ago during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. Good was a prize-winning poet with a wife and three children. She was shot in her car by a federal agent named Jonathan Ross, who claimed he opened fire in self-defence. She had volunteered with neighbourhood patrols that monitor ICE activity in the city.
Other singers and actors also spoke up against the alleged violence by ICE, including Duran Duran, Dave Matthews, Neil Young, Joe Keery and Billie Eilish.
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