Amy Schumer, Andy Cohen and More Stars Speak Out About Reuniting Migrant Families Separated at Border
A star-studded roster of celebrities has teamed up with the organization Immigrant Families Together as part of a new campaign dedicated to reuniting every single migrant family that has been separated at the southern border.
To mark the launch of IFT’s Every. Last. One campaign, nearly 60 famous faces banded together for a video released Monday pushing their message forward.
Actors such as Kristen Bell, Connie Britton, Sterling K. Brown, Andie MacDowell, Sarah Jessica Parker and Amy Schumer along with Broadway stars like Laura Benanti and Daveed Diggs and others including Gloria Steinem, Andy Cohen and Abby Wambach all contributed a brief clip of them repeating the same line into the camera: “Every last one.”
“We at Immigrant Families Together are making a commitment to every case of family separation at our border,” members of the organization say in the video.
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IFT is dedicated to helping migrant families that have been separated at the border, and the Every. Last. One. campaign’s goal is to raise awareness about the parents and children still awaiting reunions.
“It has been more than a year since the Trump administration distanced itself from its own family separation policy, but the separations have continued,” the campaign director, Meghan Finn, said in a statement. “Too many families continue to be separated, and too many children are growing up traumatized and afraid, with no idea when or if they will ever see their loved ones again. This is beyond horrifying and has to stop immediately.”
The group also aims to raise funds to bond migrants out of ICE detention while their immigration cases are pending and cover associated legal, medical, travel and living costs.
RELATED VIDEO: Mother Describes Being Separated From Young Son At Mexico Border
The organization said in a news release that it has already helped dozens of families reunite with their children who have been held in government custody.
IFT encourages anyone with information that can be used to help, such as identifying where a child is being held, to call 818-533-1975 or email info@ifteverylastone.org.
President Donald Trump officially ended the family separation policy last summer following intense public outcry, though he repeatedly (and falsely) argued that the policy did not start under him.
Trump has made restricting immigration, both legal and illegal, a centerpiece policy since being elected and he has argued Congress must reform what he calls a “broken” system allowing too many people into the country.
Under a “zero-tolerance” policy instituted as a kind of deterrent, his administration had been prosecuting nearly everyone who entered the country illegally and removing children from those migrant parents to place them into government care, according to The New York Times.
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Despite the policy’s official end last year, the government reportedly continues to separate some migrant families, citing other justifications.
The Times reports that it’s unclear just how many migrant children have been separated from their families, though the number is likely much higher than the roughly 3,000 released by the government.
Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia, from Guatemala, was separated from her young son last year after crossing into the U.S. while fleeing domestic violence, though the two were ultimately reunited after her bond was posted.
“My son had disappeared and they wouldn’t give him back to me,” she later told PEOPLE. “All I wanted was to have him here with me.”
