Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced intense backlash this week after posting a birthday video that many critics deemed insensitive — and deliberately provocative — toward Latino communities already living under heightened fear from federal immigration raids.

In the clip, posted on November 29, Noem sits inside a Mexican restaurant as staff remove her DHS cap and place a sombrero on her head while singing “Happy Birthday” in Spanish. Noem claps, laughs, and responds with a cheerful “gracias.” While some Facebook followers offered birthday greetings, the broader online reaction was far more heated.

Across TikTok, X, and Reddit, users accused the secretary of mocking communities targeted by the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation agenda. TikTok user @edwins.rosary said the sombrero moment underscored the “sad times” facing Hispanic Americans, noting that Noem “dislikes everything that has to do with that sombrero and the language” used in the restaurant’s song. “You know damn well she is trying to send a message,” he said, arguing that Noem appeared to be making light of the fear experienced in Latino neighborhoods.

Others echoed that sentiment. “She is mocking the people she has deported,” wrote X user Suzie Rizzio, questioning why the restaurant even allowed her inside. On Reddit, critics broadened their frustration to the administration as a whole. “I wish they would all face the consequences of the atrocities they have aided in committing,” one user wrote. “This is America.”

The reaction comes against the backdrop of increasingly forceful immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s second administration. Trump and his allies have repeatedly singled out Mexican immigrants, dating back to his 2016 campaign launch speech labeling many of them “rapists” and “murderers.” Today, deportation operations carried out by ICE and CBP often involve masked agents entering Latino neighborhoods for high-intensity raids.

Civil rights groups and residents across several states say the administration’s tactics amount to racial and cultural profiling, with U.S. citizens frequently caught in the dragnet. In communities with large Latino populations, businesses have reported sharp drops in customers, and families have begun limiting travel outside their homes, fearing they might be stopped or mistakenly detained.

The administration’s policies have sparked widespread protests nationwide. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has dismissed demonstrators waving Mexican flags as “left-wing radicals” who support “illegal alien invaders,” further heightening tensions.