Dozens of celebrities including Madonna, Pedro Pascal and John Legend have signed an open letter calling for the immediate closure of Dilley’s family detention center an hour southwest of San Antonio and for the Trump White House to end family detentions part of its immigration crackdown.
The actors, comedians, musicians, athletes, authors and artists who added their names to the letter also include Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo, Katie Couric, Keke Palmer, Kesha, Lena Dunham, Lance Bass, Shepard Fairey, Ilana Glazer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brittney Griner, America Ferrera, Elliot Page, Brandi Carlile, Hasan Minhaj and Billy Porter, among others.
Some who signed the letter, including Jane Fonda, John Cusack and Susan Sarandon, have long histories activism and have discussed experiencing career setbacks in Hollywood for being outspoken on their politics.
The famous artists also join a coalition of health experts signing onto the letter.
“Children belong in schools and on playgrounds, not in detention centers,” Dr. Raul Gutierrez, a pediatrician and immigrant child health expert at the University of California, San Francisco, stated in the petition.
“Evidence shows that even brief periods in detention can harm children’s physical health, mental health, and development,” Gutierrez added. “Environments marked by fear, uncertainty, or inconsistent access to safe food, clean water, and medical care can create toxic stress that affects lifelong well-being. Children need safety, stability, and the support of their families and communities to grow and thrive.”
The open letter is posted on Change.org, and organizers are asking members of the public to sign on alongside their favorite celebrities.
The document calls on the Department of Homeland Security and private-prison operator CoreCivic to immediately shut down the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, formerly the South Texas Family Residential Center. A firestorm of controversy has swirled around the facility over its treatment of its inmates, some as young as 2 months old.
“The harms of detaining children are known and well documented,” the letter states. “Court filings of abuse against children have included refusals to provide clean water, rotten food contaminated with worms, dangerous medical neglect, sleep deprivation, denial of legal counsel, the separation of children from their families, and retaliation against families protesting the inhumane conditions.”
The letter also calls for an end to the detention of children and families, their return to the communities from which they were taken and for broader systemic reforms.
“Our commitment does not end with closure,” the letter states. “We demand transparency, accountability, and systemic reforms to prevent these abuses from happening anywhere in the United States.”
Children’s YouTuber Ms. Rachel, who’s been outspoken in recent weeks about Dilley’s detention of children, has also signed on to the letter, along with fellow children’s-rights advocate Raffi.
“Every child, everywhere, deserves to feel safe, to be cared for, and to be treated with dignity,” Ms. Rachel said. “We can all agree that no child should be locked in an immigration detention center and subjected to these cruel conditions. This is not who we want to be.”
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