Kacey Musgraves turned 38 during her concert in Chicago last Friday, and used the milestone to ask fans to donate to the Young Center, a nonprofit that provides aid to children caught up in what she called "an unfair immigration system."
"It's a wonderful organization, and they help give aid, legal aid, and money to children whose parents have been deported unfairly," the country singer told the crowd at the United Center.
She added that the cause was not meant to be divisive. "It's not a political thing. It's just, these kids need help...they have no guidance and no way to get through this thing without their homebase or their parents. So anyway, 50 cents, whatever the hell... I don't know, whatever you want to [donate]."
![She continued: 'It's not a political thing. It's just, these kids need help...they have no guidance and no way to get through this thing without their homebase or their parents. So anyway, 50 cents, whatever the hell... I don't know, whatever you want to [donate]'](https://i.dailymail.com/1s/2026/08/24/22/110819737-16076083-She_continued_It_s_not_a_political_thing_It_s_just_these_kids_ne-a-51_1787605229821.jpg)
Musgraves repeated the appeal over the weekend, sharing the Young Center and the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project on her Instagram Stories and writing that both were "doing the Lord's work."
Conservative backlash online
The gesture from the eight-time Grammy winner angered MAGA supporters, many of whom back stricter immigration enforcement. Right-wing podcast host Tomi Lahren tweeted in response, "What is an unfair deportation?"
Other users went further. "Another TRAITOROUS woman who wants nothing more than to see our country fall," one X user wrote. Another asked, "How about donating money the help kids [whose] parents have been killed by illegal immigrants!" and questioned, "What happened to the country music industry?"
A third critic pointed to Musgraves's wealth, writing that she is worth $15 million yet was asking fans who had already paid between $150 and $350 for tickets to donate to support the children of undocumented immigrants. "If she cares that much, she can fund it herself and let them live in one of her multi-million-dollar mansions," the post read.
!['How about donating money the help kids [whose] parents have been killed by illegal immigrants!' X user @LangmanVince tweeted. 'What happened to the country music industry?'](https://i.dailymail.com/1s/2026/08/24/22/110819755-16076083-_How_about_donating_money_the_help_kids_whose_parents_have_been_-a-54_1787605229978.jpg)
Another user asked why Musgraves had not instead urged fans to give even a dollar to children in Appalachia who go to bed hungry, writing that hundreds of thousands of children in the United States live in poverty and tens of thousands skip meals, adding that Musgraves would "fund the border-crossers" while ignoring "her own country's starving children."
Detentions and deaths in ICE custody
An estimated 6,200 children have been detained by U.S. immigration authorities during the second Trump administration, and as of August at least 24 immigrants have reportedly died in ICE custody this year.
Musgraves's plea was not out of character. The "Dry Spell" singer has long been an outspoken Democrat and supporter of abortion rights who regularly criticizes President Donald Trump and his policies.
A history of immigration advocacy
In May, Musgraves invited the Mariachi Oro brothers, Antonio, Caleb and Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar, to open for her during a concert in her native Texas, two weeks after the trio was released from ICE detention. The Gámez-Cuéllar family had reportedly entered the United States in 2023 through the now-defunct CBP One asylum process.
Representatives for Musgraves did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musgraves, who draws 17.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, is next scheduled to bring her 36-date Middle of Nowhere Tour to Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, on Monday night.
