Several Hollywood celebrities, including Jodie Foster, Ben Stiller, Spike Lee, and Edward Norton have joined the list of those calling for the “immediate closure” of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas.
Launched late last month, the letter has been signed by more than 215,000 actors, activists, artists, physicians, and more.
“Children held in immigration detention endure trauma, neglect and conditions that violate basic standards of health, safety, dignity and human rights,” the letter read.
“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. Children belong in schools and on playgrounds, not in detention centers,” it added.
The center became a lightning rod for controversy after Immigration Enforcement and Customs sent 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos there after his father’s arrest in Minneapolis. Carly Pérez Fernández, communications director at Detention Watch Network and member of the National Coalition to End Child and Family Detention, called for an end to family detention.
“As the outcry over ICE abuse and violence continues to grow, we must demand an end to family detention. Family detention, like all immigration detention, is inhumane and unjust. Childhood is a fleeting period of time that has a tremendous impact on setting the foundation for a person’s lifelong well-being — it must be protected,” she said.
The artists among the new wave of industry names included Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Jodie Foster, Jessica Alba, Alyssa Milano, Spike Lee, Boots Riley, Megan Rapinoe, and Tig Notaro.
Upon signing the letter last month, popular children’s programmer Ms. Rachel said, “Every child, everywhere, deserves to feel safe, to be cared for, and to be treated with dignity.”
“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,” she added.