Donald Trump's "border tsar" has vehemently defended a drive to deport unlawful migrants after singer and actress Selena Gomez posted a tearful video saying: "All my people are being attacked, and children."

The star, who has Mexican heritage, sobbed uncontrollably on camera, adding: "I wish I could do something but I can't." She captioned her video with "I'm sorry" alongside a Mexican flag emoji.

But Tom Homan, responding to Gomez and others with similar views, told Fox News: "If they don't like it, then go to Congress and change the law. We're going to do this operation without apology."

Trump ordered a nationwide immigration crackdown after returning as president, with 956 arrests on Sunday, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Gomez deleted her original Instagram video but returned to social media to respond to her critics, writing: "Apparently it's not OK to show empathy for people."

She later also removed the follow-up message as well.

The Mexican government is preparing for thousands of deportees they expect to arrive from the United States in the coming weeks, with the "Remain in Mexico" policy from Trump's first term to be reinstated.

Homan, a veteran immigration official and ex-police officer, told Fox: "We're going to make our community safer... It is all for the good of this nation. And we're going to keep going. No apologies. We're moving forward."

He said they had only arrested "public security threats and national security threats, bottom line".

Previously, Homan has repeatedly said that undocumented people caught up in raids of criminals who are without documentation will be deported too.

In a second Fox interview, he questioned where Gomez's tears were for sex trafficking victims.

"We got half a million children who were sex trafficked into this country, separated from their families, put in the hands of criminal cartels to be smuggled into the country. This administration can't find over 300,000. Where's the tears for them?"

Many of Gomez's fans defended her, as did rapper Flavor Flav, who posted on X: "Team Selena Gomez. Again. That woman is always so brave to share her truth, and so many are quick to bully her."

But others, including Trump-supporting TV host Megyn Kelly, were not impressed.

"She deleted it after her fans taught her that the majority of the country stands behind these policies, but I'm sure she was shocked to get any blowback whatsoever," she said on Monday's episode of The Megyn Kelly Show.

Gomez hails from Texas and has more than 400 million Instagram followers.

In 2019, she fronted a Netflix documentary series called Living Undocumented, which followed eight immigrant families in the US.

She currently stars in hit Disney TV series Only Murders in the Building and recently received a Bafta nomination for her role in the musical film Emilia Perez, which leads this year's Oscar race.