Nicki Minaj truly sympathises with the children separated from their families after entering the U.S. as illegal immigrants, because that could have been her.

The rap superstar was born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised by her grandmother until she was five, before her mum was able to relocate Nicki and her siblings to join her in Queens, New York.

“I came to this country as an illegal immigrant @ 5 years old,” she wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of young kids being held in a cage and sleeping on mats on the floor, using space blankets to keep warm.

“I can’t imagine the horror of being in a strange place & having my parents stripped away from me at the age of 5. This is so scary to me. Please stop this. Can you try to imagine the terror & panic these kids feel right now? Not knowing if their parents are dead or alive, if they’ll ever see them again…”

The 35-year-old MC had been among a long list of celebrities, politicians, and activists to express their outrage at the zero-tolerance immigration policy, which allowed law enforcement agents to detain minors away from their parents after illegally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

The public pressure forced U.S. President Donald Trump to roll back the controversial decision and sign an executive order to end his administration’s strict policy to prosecute desperate asylum seekers, although it’s not yet clear how the new ruling will impact the families already split up.