Actress Amanda Seyfried, who is originally from Allentown, has posted criticism of ICE online—and also pursues humanitarian work offline.
Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term, the number of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has risen by more than 80%—an increase funded in part by the nearly $171 billion in additional border enforcement funds from the so-called Big Beautiful Bill passed last summer.
ICE’s expansion has brought aggressive detention and deportation operations to cities in Pennsylvania and across the country. Its tactics—and its agenda of publicizing them—have also brought details of the crackdown directly to people’s phones via social media.
That visibility has fueled a broad public backlash, with everyday people, activists, and public figures speaking out about ICE’s outsized role in American life.
Among them is Pennsylvania native and actor Amanda Seyfried, who was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley’s Allentown.
Seyfried attended public schools in Allentown before beginning her acting career and landing a breakout role in 2004’s “Mean Girls.” She now lives with her family on a farm in Upstate New York that also operates as an animal sanctuary, but has said she remains closely connected to her hometown.
“I hope you can feel my Allentown roots because they live in me forever,” she told Allentown’s WFMZ in 2021.
Allentown is notably one of the most diverse cities in Pennsylvania, with Hispanic and Latino residents making up more than half of its population. Last year, Allentown adopted a policy of noncollaboration with ICE, and Lehigh County recently moved to push ICE out of its Allentown office space.
Seyfried has used her social media platform to criticize ICE and comment on U.S. politics. Here are some of the ways she’s spoken out.
She amplified criticism of ICE in the wake of the shooting of Renee Good.
Following an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7, Seyfried shared a video of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey telling ICE agents to “get the f— out of Minneapolis.”
She also posted a quotation from the George Orwell book “1984,” about a totalitarian government. “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command,” Seyfried quoted.
Federal officials said that Good was driving toward the officer, and he acted in self-defense, but video of the shooting shows Good driving away from the officer before he opened fire.
She urged her followers to take civic action.
Following the killing of protester Alex Pretti, Seyfried posted “WHERE THE F— IS OUR SUPREME COURT?” on her Instagram Story. She then shared a 5calls infographic urging people to call their representatives.
5calls is an app and website intended to make it easy for people to contact their representatives by phone—shown to be more effective than emailing them—with scripts and contact information.
“Things are dire in the States. So, you do what you can with the money you have, and the access you have,” she told The Irish Times in early March.
She highlighted anti-ICE protests.
Not long after Good was killed by ICE, Seyfried posted footage from an anti-ICE rally in New York City to her Instagram Story. Activists could be seen carrying a banner reading “ICE OUT OF NYC” and also brandishing Palestinian flags.
She supports humanitarian aid work.
In addition to comments on Instagram, Seyfried sits on the board of the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance, a global nonprofit dedicated to providing medical and mental health care to children in war zones and disaster areas. She is also an ambassador for War Child, which supports children in conflict zones. Work like that of INARA and War Child has become more significant in light of the Trump administration’s decisions impacting refugees and international humanitarian aid.
As part of its anti-immigration agenda, the Trump administration has canceled temporary legal status for more than one million people, effectively halted the U.S. refugee program, which resettles families fleeing persecution, and drastically cut U.S. humanitarian aid.
“There is so much fear—and fearmongering—in America right now,” she told The Irish Times. “People are making decisions based on fear and not based on a bigger purpose of supporting each other.”
Seyfried has also weighed in more broadly on political speech and violence in the U.S.
The actress was previously in the news for calling Charlie Kirk “hateful” following his death; she refused to apologize. “I said something that was based on actual reality and actual footage and actual quotes,” she told Who What Wear in December, three months after the incident.
Instead, she posted a clarifying comment on Instagram. “I can get angry about misogyny and racist rhetoric and ALSO very much agree that Charlie Kirk’s murder was absolutely disturbing and deplorable in every way imaginable,” she wrote.
“This country is grieving too many senseless and violent deaths and shootings,” she continued. “Can we agree on that at least?”
