Jodie Foster, Ben Stiller, Janelle Monáe, Spike Lee, Edward Norton, Joan Baez, Quinta Bronson, Jessica Alba, Lucy Dacus, Ava DuVernay, Tatiana Maslany, Alyssa Milano and Boots Riley are among the new wave of Hollywood names who have added their signatures to a petition calling for the “immediate closure” of the Dealey Immigration Processing Center in Texas, a prison-like facility used to hold children. and families following ICE raids in the United States.
The letter was first announced late last month, and has been signed by more than 215,000 people, a number that includes actors, artists, activists, doctors, organizations and more. The federal government and private prison operator CoreCivic have been calling for the facility to be closed amid increased and ongoing scrutiny for months.
“Children detained in immigration detention centers suffer from trauma, neglect, and conditions that violate basic standards of health, safety, dignity, and human rights,” reads the letter, which calls for systemic change and accountability. “Lawsuits of abuse against children have included denial of clean water, spoiled food contaminated with worms, serious medical neglect, sleep deprivation, denial of legal counsel, separation of children from their families, and retaliation against families who protest inhumane conditions. Children belong in schools and playgrounds, not in detention centers.”
Multiple reports have indicated unsafe conditions inside the detention center, including recent measles cases, contaminated food and water, inadequate medical care, severe mistreatment of detainees and unlawful imprisonment. The facility received widespread attention because federal authorities sent 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos after he was arrested with his father in Minneapolis amid controversial raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the city. Pictures of Ramos went viral, showing him being detained while wearing a Spider-Man backpack.
“As outrage over ICE abuse and violence continues to grow, we must demand an end to family detention,” said Carly Perez-Fernandez, communications director at Detention Watch Network and a member of the National Coalition to End Child and 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 laying the foundation for a person’s lifelong well-being — and it must be protected.”
Below are the second wave of signatories (edited to include entertainment industry names). The full list can be found here.
Ed Norton, artist
Maren Morris, artist
Janelle Monáe, artist
Jodie Foster, artist
Megan Vale, artist
Lucy Dacus, artist
Quinta Bronson is a British artist
Jessica Alba, artist
Joan Baez, artist
Clayton Grimm, artist
Lauren Jauregui, artist
Boots Riley, artist
Chadwick Stokes, artist
Brad Corrigan is an artist from the United Kingdom
Brittany O’Grady, artist
Alyssa Milano, artist
Faviana Rodriguez, artistic activist
Artists Nate Brenner and Meryl Garbus of Tune-Yards
Gianmarco Sorrisi, artist
Spike Lee, artist
Austin Channing Brown, artist
Megan Rapinoe, athlete
Alex Hedison, artist
Jesse Williams, artist
Tig Notaro, artist
Tatiana Maslany, artist
Stephanie Allen, artist
Tarana Burke, activist
Lori Berkner, artist
Emily Calandrelli, artist
Brad Montagu is an artist
Cole Escola, artist
Tabitha Brown, artist
Jenna Kutcher, artist
Amanda Doyle, activist
