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Amber Heard Responds to Criticism of Her ‘Racist’ ICE Tweet: ‘It Is Hard to Make a Simple Statement’

Amber Heard
Amber Heard Kristin Callahan/ACE PICTURES/INSTARimages.com

Feeling the heat. Amber Heard is trying to explain what some have criticized as a “racist” tweet.

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“With this human rights crisis being so politicized, it is hard to make a simple statement w/out it being used to distract from the real issues,” she tweeted on Tuesday, July 3. “Its hard for everyone to not be negatively affected by this subject n some way.”

Her message was accompanied by a black-and-white photo of a little girl in a T-shirt that read: “Birth place: Earth; Race: Human; Politics; Freedom.”

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Backlash against the 32-year-old actress began after she tweeted about an ICE checkpoint in the early morning hours of Tuesday. In the since-deleted tweet, she wrote, according to NBC Philadelphia, “Just heard there’s an ICE checkpoint in hollywood, a few blocks from where I live. Everyone better give their housekeepers, nannies and landscapers a ride home tonight.”

She followed that with: “Checkpoints on your home streets…. Is this the ‘great’ America we’re aiming for? Raids, fences and police-state like checkpoints don’t feel like the ‘land of the free’ our immigrant ancestors built.”

Followers slammed her for seemingly implying “housekeepers, nannies and landscapers” are illegal immigrants, and responded with screengrabs of her first tweet.

“Where is your first tweet talking about your house keepers and such. You sounded a lot like a southerner in the late 1800’s warning all the other rich slave owners about the Union Army coming. And republicans are racist, huh?” wrote one person.

“According to your earlier tweet only nannies, housekeepers, and landscapers need to worry,” tweeted another. “I didn’t know those positions were held only by illegal immigrants. This is why identity politics doesn’t work.”

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“FYI, police do street checkpoints all the time. Nothing new here,” pointed out one follower. “But I guess that might be unheard of in your gated community.”

To that, Heard, who identifies herself as “actress and activist” in her Twitter bio, replied: “I grew up with those checkpoints, but that was mls from the border. Fortunately I dont live behind gates (or fences) but I do live around and alongside many ppl who face that fate if this continues to escalate.”

The Justice League star has been vocal on social media about human rights and the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy of separating children from their families at the U.S. border.

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