--- title: White House, Trump Controversy: Social Media Post Condemned description: "This action from the White House is not a lighthearted joke," said the CEO of Hispanic Federation. canonical: https://time.com/7225608/white-house-valentines-day-social-media-post-illegal-immigration-backlash/ author: Rebecca Schneid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-02-15T15:11:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:44:31.415Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's White House 'Criticized' Over Offensive Social Media og:description: "This action from the White House is not a lighthearted joke," said the CEO of Hispanic Federation. og:url: https://time.com/7225608/white-house-valentines-day-social-media-post-illegal-immigration-backlash/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33023862809496a2/6998b7c147fe51165f55a01d/GettyImages-2198395591.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5638 og:image:height: 3171 og:image:alt: Elon Musk Joins President Trump For Signing Executive Orders In The Oval Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's White House 'Criticized' Over Offensive Social Media twitter:description: "This action from the White House is not a lighthearted joke," said the CEO of Hispanic Federation. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33023862809496a2/6998b7c147fe51165f55a01d/GettyImages-2198395591.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The White House Is Criticized Over 'Offensive' Valentine's Day Social Media Post > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Feb 15, 2025 3:11 PM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks during an Executive Order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump speaks during an Executive Order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025 in Washington, D.C.Andrew Harnik—Getty Images  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Feb 15, 2025 3:11 PM UTC To mark Valentine’s Day, the White House posted a meme across its [X](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1890441976417264027), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DGD3bEExyen/), and [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122118682124723345&set=a.122114684240723345&locale=en%5FGB) social media accounts. The post included a new take on the popular “roses are red, violets are blue” refrain. But in lieu of a traditional love poem, the White House instead came up with a rhyme that targeted illegal immigration. “Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally, and we’ll deport you,” the text of the Valentine’s Day message read. Against a pink backdrop, the poem was accompanied by the faces of President Donald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan. The caption read “Happy Valentines Day,” with a red heart emoji. Various organizations have since spoken out to condemn the post. **Read More**: [_What Donald Trump’s Win Means For Immigration_](https://time.com/7171654/donald-trump-immigration-plan-2024/) Voto Latino, an organization that works to engage Latino communities in the voting process, called the post “[offensive and divisive](https://votolatino.org/media/press-releases/voto-latino-condemns-white-houses-offensive-and-divisive-valentines-day-post/).” “This post was deliberately crafted to provoke and sow division, but the struggles of immigrant families are not a joke,” the organization said. “Using a lighthearted holiday to demean and target communities is not only irresponsible—it is beneath the dignity of the presidency.” > [](https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1890441976417264027) Elsewhere, the [Hispanic Federation spoke out](https://www.hispanicfederation.org/news/hispanic-federation-statement-denouncing-hate-after-white-house-social-media-post-belittles-immigrant-families/) against the post, saying that more people need to “step up” and say they will not tolerate this kind of commentary. Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of Hispanic Federation, said: “Let me be clear, this action from the White House is not a lighthearted joke.” Miranda went on to reference when a comedian called Puerto Rico a [“floating island of garbage”](https://time.com/7099205/trump-rally-tony-hinchcliffe/) at a Trump rally last year, highlighting that “this is already a pattern that is beneath the Office of the President of the United States.” **Read More**: [_Trump Launches New Immigration Measures, Prompting Abrupt Shift in U.S. Border Policy_](https://time.com/7208516/trump-executive-orders-immigration-deportation-border/) The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also responded to the poem on X. “You may not take your job seriously, but we do,” [the organization posted](https://x.com/HispanicCaucus/status/1890474148457050384). “Your deportations are inhumane, they're killing the American economy and they're separating our families.” The White House’s Valentine’s Day post comes as Trump begins to implement [his immigration enforcement efforts and policies](https://time.com/7171654/donald-trump-immigration-plan-2024/), which include [targeting sanctuary cities](https://time.com/7222159/what-are-sanctuary-cities-why-is-trump-targeting-them/), the intent to progress with [mass deportations](https://time.com/7177304/trump-mass-deportation-raids/), efforts to [redefine birthright citizenship](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/), and the [declaration of a national emergency](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declaring-a-national-emergency-at-the-southern-border-of-the-united-states/) at the Southern border of the U.S. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also embarked upon [raids to ramp up deportation efforts](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/are-cities-ice-raids-are-taking-place-rcna189390). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7225608/white-house-valentines-day-social-media-post-illegal-immigration-backlash/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7225608/white-house-valentines-day-social-media-post-illegal-immigration-backlash/"},"headline":"The White House Is Criticized Over 'Offensive' Valentine's Day Social Media Post","datePublished":"2025-02-15T15:11:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-10T23:44:31.415Z","description":"\"This action from the White House is not a lighthearted joke,\" said the CEO of Hispanic Federation.","url":"https://time.com/7225608/white-house-valentines-day-social-media-post-illegal-immigration-backlash/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33023862809496a2/6998b7c147fe51165f55a01d/GettyImages-2198395591.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rebecca Schneid","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33023862809496a2/6998b7c147fe51165f55a01d/GettyImages-2198395591.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Elon Musk Joins President Trump For Signing Executive Orders In The Oval Office","caption":"Elon Musk Joins President Trump For Signing Executive Orders In The Oval Office","creditText":"Andrew Harnik—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7225608/white-house-valentines-day-social-media-post-illegal-immigration-backlash/","name":"The White House Is Criticized Over 'Offensive' Valentine's Day Social Media Post"}}]}] ```