Kacey Musgraves on Friday asked fans to support a group giving back to children of “unfairly” deported immigrants — and MAGA world is furious.
The Grammy winner, while celebrating her 38th birthday at a Chicago concert, put the spotlight on the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, a group she described as a “wonderful organization” helping provide unaccompanied immigrant children with legal aid and financial support.
“It would mean a lot to me. It’s not even a political thing. It’s just, these kids need help,” said Musgraves in a clip originally shared by music journalist Tomás Mier.
She said that if fans chip in 50 cents, one dollar or “whatever the hell” they can, it would “mean a lot” to her, before adding, “And if you don’t want to, that’s totally fine, too.”
The Texas-born music star has given back to the Chicago-based group before.
Earlier this year, she donated the proceeds from a Depop sale of items from her personal wardrobe to the Young Center.
Musgraves’ birthday wish prompted backlash from conservative critics over the weekend, including Fox News’ Tomi Lahren, who asked on X, “What is an unfair deportation?”
Newsmax’s Rob Schmitt, in response to a New York Post story on the singer’s comments, wrote, “Nowhere is safe from libtards. Not even country music.”
MAGA influencer Vince Langman questioned why Musgraves wasn’t donating money to help kids whose parents “have been killed by illegal immigrants,” while another user simply wrote, “Another TRAITOROUS woman who wants nothing more than to see our country fall.”
David Becker via Getty Images
Musgraves, a Donald Trump critic who has slammed his record on LGBTQ+ issues and gun violence, has a history of using her platform to help those impacted by the president’s immigration crackdown.
In May, weeks after Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas detained three teenage mariachi-playing brothers and their parents, she invited the young musicians to open for her in the Lone Star State.
“My takeaway from all of this is that I felt loved by hundreds of people,” Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 15, told NPR’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of opening for three of Musgraves’ sold-out shows at the historic dance hall venue Gruene Hall.