Kehlani Tells ICE Officers to “Delete All My Music” in Latest Anti-ICE Stand
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 26: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Kehlani performs onstage at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.Photo Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer
Kehlani has delivered a sharply worded message to officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, writing on Instagram that anyone who works for ICE should not speak to her and should “delete all my music.” The 30-year-old singer shared the statement over the weekend in an Instagram Story formatted as a “public service announcement,” according to reporting that cited The San Francisco Chronicle.
The text appeared over a selfie-style image that seemed to be taken at an airport, though Kehlani did not explain what specific incident or encounter, if any, triggered the message. As of publication time, there were no additional details from Kehlani about the context behind the Story, and no public comment from ICE addressing her remarks.
The latest post is part of a consistent line of criticism Kehlani has directed at ICE, including comments made during and around the 2026 Grammy Awards, where she won her first two Grammys. At the ceremony in Los Angeles, Kehlani received the award for Best R&B Performance for her hit “Folded” and used her acceptance speech to call for collective action among artists and to denounce the agency.
On stage at the Crypto.com Arena, Kehlani told the audience that “everybody is so powerful in this room” and that together they are “stronger in numbers to speak against all the injustice going on in the world right now.” She urged fellow artists not to leave advocacy to “just a couple of you here and there,” saying she hoped they would “join together as a community of artists and speak out against what’s going on” before ending the speech with the words, “I’m gonna leave this and say, f*** ICE.”
Kehlani also addressed ICE on the Grammy red carpet, where she wore an “ICE out” pin and spoke about wanting to make a strong statement. She told The Hollywood Reporter that she “really wanted to say ‘f*** ICE,’ but I think they needed some ‘couth’ or something on the carpet,” describing herself as “a little couthless, ruthless” while emphasizing that artists are “too powerful of a group to all be in the room at the same time and not make some kind of statement in our country.”
Kehlani’s latest comments fit into a longer record of political engagement and advocacy on issues beyond immigration enforcement, including vocal support for Palestinians. The artist has publicly taken positions on U.S. foreign policy and human rights, including sharing an infographic that referred to former President Joe Biden as “Genocide Joe” while calling for a ceasefire, according to earlier coverage.
Those positions have had professional consequences, including the cancellation of a scheduled performance at Cornell University’s Slope Day in April 2025, which the university called off after Kehlani’s advocacy on Palestine drew backlash. Kehlani later described receiving “highly organized, typed-out, detailed death threats” over her stance on the issue, underscoring the personal risks some public figures incur when aligning themselves with contentious political causes.
In 2024, she expressed anger at what she viewed as silence from well-resourced peers in the entertainment industry, stating that many artists had “already beat the f**king game” yet would not “stop for a second” to recognize their reliance on the public and “reach back for people.” At that time, she urged other musicians to speak up, framing outspoken advocacy as a responsibility that comes with large platforms and significant success.
Kehlani’s stance against ICE is part of a broader tradition of musicians using cultural influence to raise concerns about immigration policy and state power, especially in communities heavily impacted by enforcement actions. In her recent remarks, she linked artistic visibility with political responsibility, telling Grammy viewers that artists in the room are “so powerful” and should use that collective power to “speak out against what’s going on” in the world.
Her call for ICE officers to delete her music goes beyond a symbolic slogan by directly rejecting a segment of potential listeners based on their institutional role, an unusually pointed move in an industry where broad listenership is often celebrated. The statement effectively draws a boundary between Kehlani’s work and the agency’s enforcement activities, suggesting that the values expressed in her art are incompatible with the missions carried out by ICE.
Kehlani’s public persona has also been shaped by their openness about personal identity, including queer and gender-expansive experiences, which have informed how many LGBTQ+ listeners connect to her music and activism. While the latest Instagram message did not explicitly reference LGBTQ+ communities, her broader advocacy—particularly on issues of racial justice, immigration, and international solidarity—resonates for many people whose lives sit at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities.
As of the most recent reports, there has been no widely reported formal response from major music industry bodies or recording partners specifically addressing Kehlani’s directive to ICE officers to delete her music. Coverage has instead emphasized the continuity between her Instagram message and the “f*** ICE” remarks delivered both in her Grammy acceptance speech and during red-carpet interviews.
During the Grammys, Kehlani framed her commentary as part of a collective push, stating that it is “brainless” for such a “powerful” group of artists to gather “and not make some kind of statement in our country.” That framing suggests she sees the award show stage not only as personal recognition but also as an opportunity to align mainstream music culture with organized resistance to policies and agencies she views as harmful.
The Instagram Story telling ICE officers to delete her music reinforces that positioning by bringing the criticism into everyday digital spaces where fans, critics, and public servants may all encounter the same message. Even without a detailed explanation of what prompted the post, the language mirrors her earlier, more formal statements, underscoring that her stance on ICE is sustained rather than spontaneous.
Kehlani’s ongoing advocacy—whether aimed at immigration enforcement, U.S. foreign policy, or broader questions of justice—continues to position her as one of the contemporary artists most willing to risk controversy in order to speak directly to governmental power. As her latest message circulates online, it adds another entry to the evolving record of how musicians, fans, and public institutions negotiate the boundaries between art, politics, and accountability in a polarized era.
Copyright EDGE Media Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
