The DHS has responded to Olivia Rodrigo‘s recent remarks about the department’s use of one of her songs in a video promoting ICE.
In a statement shared with Billboard on Thursday (March 19) — just hours after the singer’s British Vogue cover story was published, featuring Rodrigo calling ICE’s actions “disturbing” — a spokesperson for the DHS said, “America is grateful all the time for our federal law enforcement officers who keep us safe.”
“We suggest Ms. Rodrigo thank them for their service, not belittle their sacrifice,” it continued. “ICE does NOT separate families. Parents are given a choice to either take their child with them or place them in the care of someone they designate. This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.”
Billboard has reached out to Rodrigo’s rep for comment.
The first sentence in the DHS spokesperson’s comment references lyrics in Rodrigo’s “All-American Bitch,” the song used in a November video glorifying footage of ICE officers tackling and forcibly detaining people. At the time, the Grammy winner had commented, “don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.”
Four months later, Rodrigo again condemned ICE in British Vogue. “That was awful. Dystopian,” she said of finding out the agency had used her Billboard Hot 100 hit without permission. “The way that ICE is ripping apart communities and terrorizing people is so disturbing. It’s a really sad, scary time.”
Even before the unauthorized song usage, Rodrigo was speaking out against ICE. Amid the organization’s raids on immigrant communities in Los Angeles last year, she wrote on her Instagram Story, “I’ve lived in LA my whole life and I’m deeply upset about these violent deportations of my neighbors under the current administration … Treating hardworking community members with such little respect, empathy, and due process is awful.”
Numerous other stars have voiced criticism for the actions of ICE under President Donald Trump as well, particularly after the deaths of Minnesotan civilians Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were shot and killed by immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis at the beginning of the year. The DHS has also hit back at other musicians beyond Rodrigo, claiming in a statement to Billboard that Billie Eilish was spreading “garbage rhetoric” by resharing posts calling ICE a “terrorist organization” in January.
