Ariana Grande urges fans to call senators about ICE as she shares simple steps

Ariana Grande has spoken out against the widely-condemned operations being carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), urging her fans to call their senators about the agency.

ICE, which was formed in response to the terror attacks on 11 September 2001, is a federal agency that enforces the United States’ immigration laws by identifying and deporting people who breach such laws, as well as those who are viewed as a threat to national security.

Since Trump returned to the White House for his second term, his administration has led a huge campaign to bolster the work of ICE and make good on his anti-immigration campaign promise to carry out mass deportations.

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This crackdown on immigrants has often been violent and met with protests from residents in cities across the US, who condemn ICE’s presence in their neighbourhoods. During these confrontations between ICE agents and locals, people have been pepper sprayed and left injured, with Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti shot dead.

During the course of ICE’s operations, both US citizens and those legally seeking asylum in the US have been detained and deported, while those in custody have reported being subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

On Tuesday (27 January) Wicked and Wicked: For Good star Grande shared several resources on her Instagram story, including a step-by-step guide for how US residents can contact their senator about ICE and details for the NYC ICE Watch Deportation Defense Hotline.

This is not the first time the performer has spoken out, as in the wake of Pretti’s death Grande reshared a post by New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, in which he wrote: “As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another personal in Minneapolis today. ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.”

In recent months, other celebrities including Chappell Roan, Renee Rapp and Sabrina Carpenter have called out the agency.

Recent polls revealed the majority of Americans do not view ICE positively and believe it is making US cities less safe.

A CNN poll conducted by SSRS found just over half of US residents surveyed (51 per cent) believe ICE is making cities ‘less safe’, while 31 per cent believe it is increasing safety and 18 per cent do not feel it is having an effect.

The results also revealed more than half (56 per cent) of those surveyed feel the shooting of Good by ICE was an ‘inappropriate use of force’, with more than a quarter (26 per cent) saying it was appropriate and 18 per cent not knowing enough to comment.

In a different poll, carried out by CBS News/YouGov, 61 percent of respondents said how ICE is conducting its operations is “too tough”, while 15 percent said they are “not tough enough”. Just under a quarter (24 per cent) also said they felt it was “about right”.