White House Doubles Down on Using Sabrina Carpenter’s Image for Anti-Immigration Videos

The White House, under President Donald Trump, continues to stand firm, despite musician Sabrina Carpenter’s public denouncement of their use of her song to endorse policies related to the removal of undocumented individuals.

On Friday, December 5, the White House's official X profile shared a post stating, "PSA: If you’re a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported." This message accompanied an altered clip from a Saturday Night Live promotion featuring Carpenter, 26, alongside cast member Marcello Hernandez.

The genuine, unmodified promotional video begins with Carpenter referencing a popular recurring gag from her Short n’ Sweet tour, where she humorously "detains" celebrities in the audience.

Carpenter's original line reads, "I think I might need to arrest someone for being too hot." The White House's modification replaced "hot" with "illegal."

Sabrina Carpenter Condemns White House's ‘Evil’ Immigration Enforcement Video Utilizing Her Track

Hernandez, 28, who has Cuban and Dominican heritage, replies, "Well, I turn myself in." (Hernandez frequently discusses his mother in his standup routines; she immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba at age 12 to escape communism.)

Carpenter starts to deliver the line, “You’re under arrest,” before the footage abruptly cuts to a compilation of videos showing Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents apprehending individuals within the United States.

For the video montage, the White House chose to feature Rihanna’s track “S&M” and Gucci Mane’s “I Get the Bag,” featuring Migos, rather than Carpenter’s music.

This recent post follows Carpenter's public condemnation of the White House for incorporating her music into a separate ICE promotional video, which has since been removed.

On Tuesday, December 2, Carpenter posted on X, declaring, “This video is evil and disgusting,” and adding, “Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhuman agenda.”

The day before, the White House had shared a video depicting ICE officers arresting individuals accused of being "dangerous" criminals living in the United States without authorization or identification. Carpenter's song "Juno" served as the background audio for the 21-second clip.

The White House's caption for that video on X read, "Have you ever tried this one?" followed by "Bye-bye." This caption alluded to Carpenter's popular tour moments where she adopts provocative poses.

Following Carpenter's statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the video and its message in remarks made to Us Weekly.

Jackson stated, "Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists and pedophiles from our country." She added, "Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?"

Data from the Cato Institute indicates that 93 percent of individuals held in ICE facilities have not been convicted of a violent offense, and close to two-thirds have no criminal history whatsoever.

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Carpenter is not the first celebrity to oppose the use of their music being tied to Trump administration policies.

In October, Kenny Loggins generated controversy when he criticized the White House for using his popular song “Danger Zone” in a video showing Trump flying over protesters opposing the administration.

Loggins, 77, released a statement to Variety at the time: “This is an unauthorized use of my performance of ‘Danger Zone.’ No one sought my permission, which I would have refused, and I demand that my recording be removed from this video without delay.” He added, “I cannot comprehend why anyone would want their music associated with something created solely to divide us. Far too many individuals are attempting to fracture our society, and we must seek new avenues to unite.”

In 2024, Beyoncé similarly threatened legal action against the Trump campaign after they utilized her song “Freedom” in a video. The track was subsequently adopted as former Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign anthem.