Michelle Obama Breaks Down Over Trump’s Deportation Policies

Ben Houdijk
Ben Houdijk

Former first lady Michelle Obama is frightened by President Donald Trump’s deportation policy, she discussed during an episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast.

Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, discussed fears they had growing up dealing with race issues, when she was asked to identify the “hardest recent test of that fear.”

“In this current climate, for me it’s, you know, what’s happening to immigrants,” the former first lady replied, explaining that she is no longer fearful for herself — due to her celebrity status — but is instead fearful for illegal immigrants.

“I drive around in a four-car motorcade with a police escort. I’m Michelle Obama. I do still worry about my daughters in the world even though they are somewhat recognizable,” Obama said. “So, my fears are for what I know is happening out there in streets all over the city.”

Obama asserted that the Trump administration is “indiscriminately determining who belongs and who doesn’t.”

“And we know that those decisions aren’t being made with courts and with due process,” Obama said, suggesting the Trump administration is making these types of decisions based on looks alone — not actual legal status or criminal history, as is reality.

“And you know that it’s being made like this cop that pulled my brother over when he was twelve. You don’t look like somebody that belongs. I can determine just by looking at you that you’re a good person or you’re not a good person,” she claimed.

She added that there is “so much bias and so much racism and so much ignorance that fuels those kinds of choices” and therefore, Obama worries for “people of color all over this country.”

“And I don’t know that we will have the advocates to protect everybody,” Obama said. “And that makes me, that frightens me. It keeps me up at night.”

“And I know that there are, and I see that when I’m driving around L.A. I’m just looking in the faces of folks who could be victim, and I’m wondering, how are you feeling? How do you feel standing on the bus stop? How do you feel comfortable going to work, going to school when you know that there could be people out here judging you and who could upend your life in a second?” Obama asked. “You know, that’s who I worry for right now.”

When it comes to what is happening on the “streets all over the city,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been arresting illegal immigrants with criminal histories. The White House currently has a display of roughly 100 mugshots of illegal immigrants ICE has arrested alongside their crimes. They include a Mexican national convicted of sexual assault of a child, a Laotian national convicted of murder, a citizen of El Salvador convicted of rape, and another Salvadoran national convicted of sex with a minor.

It should be noted that some estimates show 5.3 million deportations — including both interior and border removals — took place during former President Barack Obama’s two terms.

Despite that record, Michelle Obama is now warning that Trump’s policies make her fear for “people of color” across the country, fueling a debate that shows no signs of slowing down.