Chappell Roan told to ‘get a grip’ by US Homeland Security

A US government body has said Chappell Roan needs to ‘get a grip’ after the star criticised ICE’s immigration raids during a recent Los Angeles gig.

The Pink Pony Club hitmaker, 27, played two shows at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and on Friday evening she declared to the crowd: ‘F*** ICE.’

By ICE, the pop legend refers to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal government agency supervised by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who are implementing Trump’s aggressive immigration strategy in California and beyond.

DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin then told TMZ in response: ‘Pink Pony Club is good. Paedophiles are bad. That’s who we’re getting off of our streets. Get a grip.’

As part of Trump’s mass deportation plan, it is thought over 200,000 people have been arrested and deported since January, sparking protests throughout the US. Trump controversially deployed the military in LA over the summer, a move which was ruled last month as ‘illegal’ by a California judge, and hadn’t been done since the 1960s.

In the roll out, which has been criticised as ‘ruthless’ and ‘inhumane’, several American citizens have also been mistakenly detained and deported.

‘LA.’s my favorite city in the world, to be honest,’ Chappell told the crowd on Friday, as per Variety. ‘I’ve been living here nine years. I’m originally from Missouri and I had a really, really tough time the first five years.’

Talking about the devastating wildfires, the Good Luck, Babe! hitmaker continued: ‘I’m not gonna be eloquent about this. I loved L.A. more than ever when I saw how the community came together in Altadena to help, same with the Palisades.

‘I just realised that I’m so lucky to be able to live here and to play here, and the city has taken care of me, and it’s my duty to take care of it back.’

She then added: ‘F*** ICE forever.’

Trump has been criticised for deporting many migrants without a fair trial, to which he replied: ‘You can’t have a trial for all of these people.

‘Look, we are getting some very bad people, killers, murderers, drug dealers, really bad people, the mentally ill, the mentally insane, they emptied out insane asylums into our country, we’re getting them out.

‘And a judge can’t say: ‘No, you have to have a trial,’” Trump claimed. ‘No, we are going to have a very dangerous country if we are not allowed to do what we are entitled to do.’

Homeland Security claim ICE are ‘arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens including pedophiles, human smugglers, and thieves,’ as per their official website.

However, government data in September showed that of the 59,762 people in ICE detention across the US at the time, 16,523 had no criminal record.

Celebrities have spoken out since the LA marches in June rippled into national protests, with Kim Kardashian even weighing in.

‘When we’re told that ICE exists to keep our country safe and remove violent criminals — great,’ she began on social media. ‘But when we witness innocent, hardworking people being ripped from their families in inhumane ways, we have to speak up.’

Elsewhere, Bad Bunny credited ICE raids for his decision not to tour the US, while Jeff Bridges said the agency should be ‘off the streets and into our beverages’.

In a June interview with the BBC Shakira said being an immigrant in the US in 2025 ‘means living in constant fear’, while Doechii called out Trump’s deployment of military on peaceful protests while accepting her Bet Award.

‘There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order,’ she said, continuing: ‘Trump is using military forces to stop a protest. I want you to consider what kind of government it appears to be when everytime we exercise our democratic right to protest the military is deployed against us.’

Jimmy Kimmel, who was recently taken off air by Disney after pressure from Trump supporters, protested with his parents in South Bay, wearing a t-shirt reading: ‘Make America Good Again.’

In October comedian and actor Aziz Ansari appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and poked fun at the government agency.

After being asked by the host about moving to London after marrying his wife – Danish data scientist Serena Skov Campbell – in 2022, Aziz spoke about ‘not being in Los Angeles for a while’.

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Aziz’s parents were Muslim immigrants from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

‘I haven’t been here since all this ICE stuff started happening. I’m all nervous. I got friends, they’re like, “We’re hiding our nanny in the basement. We might have to raise our kids. We don’t know what we’re going to do”,’ he joked.

He went on: ‘I’m on edge, man. I’m carrying my passport all the time, just in case people haven’t seen the shows, you know?’

This comes after Kylie Jenner found herself in hot water this week over a teaser for her King Kylie product range, which saw her being escorted through jail by two men dressed as police officers while handcuffed.

Fans took to social media to criticise the star for using law enforcement for the campaign at a time when tensions are high in the US and ICE raids are raging on.

ICE has been dubbed Trump’s personal rogue agency, with him stating during his campaign trail: ‘On day one, I will launch the largest deportation programme of criminals in the history of America.’

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