Chrissy Teigen, Anne Hathaway & More Sound Off on Immigrant Children Being Separated From Parents at US Border

Desiree Murphy‍
Updated
Chrissy Teigen, Anne Hathaway & More Sound Off on Immigrant Children Being Separated From Parents at US Border

Celebrities are continuing to speak out on President Donald Trump's controversial, "zero tolerance" immigration policy that has resulted in about 2,000 children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border during a six-week period in April and May.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, who recently donated $288,000 to the ACLU, were two of the first Hollywood stars to express their outrage, penning a letter they shared via Instagram on the president's birthday last week.

"John and I are outraged to see and hear the horror stories of immigrant families seeking asylum and refuge in American being ripped apart due to the inhumane policies of the Trump administration," the mother of two wrote. "These actions are cruel, anti-family and go against everything we believe this country should represent."

happy birthday

A post shared by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Jun 14, 2018 at 10:36am PDT

Teigen also posted a heartbreaking image via Twitter of a 2-year-old girl crying as she was taken from her mother by U.S. border agents, which was recently published on the cover of The Daily News. "This little girl is the same age as my daughter," she shared. "Luna is the happiest thing. the funniest girl. and she is absolutely terrified to look around and realize she is too far away from us, even for seconds. the fear she would feel here fills me with rage and sadness."

Sara Bareilles also was "appalled," tweeting her thoughts on the "beyond inhumane" policy.

"I am so sad and feel so helpless about the families being separated," she said. "I am grateful for those sharing how to engage and help, thank God for you. The idea that there is anyone who believes this is justice is simply heartbreaking."

On Father's Day, Anne Hathaway dedicated an Instagram post to her dad, whom she says grew up in poverty and taught her to "use [her] brain" and make the world a better place. "My Dad and I -- not to mention my entire family -- are disgusted and rocked to our core by the current administration’s shocking decision to separate asylum seeking immigrant families, the consequence of which is creating orphans with living parents."

"In appreciation of my father, and in honor of all the fathers torn from their children because of this brutal policy, I am making a donation to @americansforimmigrantjustice in my father’s name," she added. "I invite you to join me and make a donation of any size in your father’s name."

My Dad grew up in poverty, got his first job when he was 10, and is now among the most respected lawyers in his field. When my brothers and I were growing up, our Dad commuted an hour and half to work every day and still coached our soccer teams and helped out the stage crew on every one of my shows (he put himself through college and law school as a stage hand- long live Buster). He has the hugest Leo heart and is thrillingly smart- also, he is a bad-ass who doesn’t take $&@! from anyone. He taught me how to use my brain, to try and make the world a better place, and told me that I should never lie so that way I would never need to remember anything (it’s true). Simply put, he is my hero. My Dad and I- not to mention my entire family- are disgusted and rocked to our core by the current administration’s shocking decision to separate asylum seeking immigrant families, the consequence of which is creating orphans with living parents. In appreciation of my father, and in honor of all the fathers torn from their children because of this brutal policy, I am making a donation to @americansforimmigrantjustice in my father’s name (link in my bio). I invite you to join me and make a donation of any size in your father’s name. Also, for those of you who are going to slam me for politicizing Father’s Day- I’m Jerry Hathaway’s daughter and I speak my mind: you are on the wrong side of history.

A post shared by Anne Hathaway (@annehathaway) on Jun 17, 2018 at 5:15pm PDT

Sophia Bush also encouraged her followers to take action, tweeting, "CALL YOUR SENATORS."

"Regardless of party or opinions, certain things need to be non-negotiable to all humans," she wrote. "A non-negotiable? We do NOT rip BABIES from their mothers' arms to put numbers on their chests like the Nazis did during the Holocaust, & then throw them in cages. NO."

Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel tweeted three easy steps to help out. "1) Call your reps at (202) 224-3121- tell them to END the separation of families at the border (ask your Senators to pass the Keep Families Together Act and your House Rep to pass the HELP Separated Children Act). 2) Donate to https://supportkind.org to protect vulnerable children at our border. 3) Use this frame on Facebook with a photo of you and your kids to show that you will not stand for families being ripped apart."

"This Father's Day, I hope that our President and his minions remember that children should be with their parents, not in detention centers," he added in another tweet.

Others, like Star Trek actor Walter Koenig, simply shared a link to the Save the Children Action Network website, encouraging people to "tell Congress that families belong together."

"SIGN ON to tell President Trump, Secretary Nielsen and Attorney General Sessions to reverse their administrative policy of intentional family separation now and to stop human rights abuses," he continued. "#FamiliesBelongTogether."

Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda shared a similar tweet, with a link to FamiliesBelong.org, a coalition led by @WomenBelong to put an end to "the cruel and unjustified separation."

See more responses from celebrities and public figures below:

This is abhorrent. This is NOT representative of what our county stands for. It’s all I can think about. It’s just unfathomable. Do you feel helpless too? What can we do to stop these atrocities, besides calling our Reps? #keepfamiliestogether

A post shared by Mandy Moore (@mandymooremm) on Jun 19, 2018 at 10:26am PDT

A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on Jun 17, 2018 at 7:12pm PDT

Thrilled to announce we welcomed a brand new baby girl into the world Friday morning, just in time for #FathersDay 😍 These last few days, as I’ve enjoyed the privilege of making smoothies I know my older kids will like, making my wife red raspberry leaf tea to ease her uterine contractions, spending “boy time” with my son and getting my two year-old down for a nap in the way only I know how... I’ve been heart sick about something. As I write this, kids are being ripped from the arms of their parents. By our government. For the kid’s benefit? No - the opposite - as a purposeful display of cruelty to deter would-be illegal border crossers AND legal asylum seekers (it’s happening to both). And it wouldn’t be honest to wax poetic about my new-baby bliss without speaking up against this atrocity. If we allow our government to de-humanize fathers, and mothers, and children in the name of defending our borders... we’ve lost a huge part what makes those borders worth defending. And even if you don’t believe in karma, or in extending basic human decency to people who didn’t win the geographic birth lottery... even if you’re hard-liner enough to say, “Break the law, suffer the consequences,” shouldn’t the punishment at least fit the crime? And if you’re still cold enough to say, “Well, it’s effective,” consider this: This heinous practice was put into place by our own attorney general (who justified it with a cherry-picked Bible verse), and our president blamed rivals before tweeting his list of legislative demands to be met before he stops it. Regardless of how you feel about immigration, or a wall, or this president... if we say we’re okay with our government using human rights violations as a deterrent or as a bargaining chip... what happens when we find ourselves on the wrong side of the agenda? Either in this administration or the next? This should not be a political issue - it’s a human one. A crime against humanity is a crime against us all. More info in link in my bio. Oh, and @vanderkimberly - you’re a f*cking earth goddess rock star and I’m as in awe of you as I am in love with you. And our new baby’s name is Gwendolyn ❤️ #HappyFathersDay everybody.

A post shared by James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) on Jun 17, 2018 at 12:49pm PDT

@glennondoyle says: “you have to understand that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land” HOME by Warsan Shire I do not understand how people refuse to understand. Why do we feel more worthy of safety because we were born on the right side of an imaginary line? We are people born on third base convinced we hit a triple- while folks outside the ball park starve. We ask them to stop trying to get their children inside for food and shelter. We tell them- we tell parents - to let their children die and stop bothering us about It. When they refuse: we take their children. America is an experiment and we are failing. We are repeating our history - we took babies from African mamas and we took them from Native American mamas and we took them from Japanese mamas. This is who we have been. And it’s going to take those of us who believe in Making America Great For Once- to keep showing up, to refuse to go numb- to refuse to look away until those babies are out of those cages and back in their parents’ arms. Love will win but only if we refuse to give up. There is No such thing as other people’s children. @together.rising Is still collecting for lawyers and social workers for detained children. Go to momastery.com to see our detailed transparent work- every penny we receive goes toward advocacy for and reunification of these families.

A post shared by kristen bell (@kristenanniebell) on Jun 18, 2018 at 11:24am PDT

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