Pop star Katy Perry claimed that illegal migrants are being “hunted like criminals in their ancestral home,” implying that the land of California and Los Angeles belongs to them.
In a series of Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Perry promoted a message that said illegal migrants are the descendants of those who built California.
“Los Angeles has lived under three flags: Spain, Mexico, and the United States. That land has seen borders shift, power, change, hands, and yet the people, especially the brown and indigenous people, have always been there. Planting roots, building lives, raising families,” the message said. “And now, in 2025 the descendants of those same communities are being hunted, like criminals and their own ancestral home.”
“It’s more than infuriating, it’s a deep injustice. How can a city built on Mexican labor, Mexican history and Mexican culture turn around and criminalize the very people who shaped it?” the post added.
Perry then said California was once Mexican land as if the United States stole it, even though country acquired it legally through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and paying $15 million for the land. The treaty ended the Mexican-American War.
“This was once Mexican land, and the people being targeted today are often descendants of those who have lived here for generations, or who came seeking safety, work, and dignity,” the message said.
“Many undocumented immigrants are quietly holding up the economy with their labor, raising families, paying taxes, and contributing to communities, yet they are vilified and dignity.”
Perry’s posted screed ended with a call for reform without acknowledging the vast complexities of dealing with millions of people who entered into the United States illegally in just the past four years.
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