On Saturday, people came together at more than 700 marches across the country in support of the Families Belong Together movement. Among the tens of thousands of faces in the crowds — over 50,000 marched on Washington, D.C., alone — were celebrities lending their voices to the cause. Those who couldn’t attend rallies in person showed up on social media to make it clear that Hollywood stands against the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
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Since mandating zero tolerance in April, the administration has come under sharp criticism. The situation reached a fever pitch when video and audio footage surfaced in which young migrant children separated from their parents could be seen and heard crying in detention facilities.
Although President Donald Trump initially claimed the problem could not be fixed through executive order, he eventually buckled and signed an order that purported to keep families together. However, the order did not specify what would happen to the thousands of children already separated from their parents. It has also been decried as strategic since the order would allow whole families to be held indefinitely.
Many Hollywood A-listers are using their star power as a platform to effect change in response to the policy.
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Wonder Woman 2 director Patty Jenkins took a break from filming to lament the lack of a concerted effort to reunite the separated kids with their parents.
Trying to make our film today, but Gal and I growing increasingly distracted by the fact that there is somehow not an aggressive and swift effort to reunite these kids with their parents. What kind of people are standing in the way of such a thing? #Childrenbelongwiththeirparentspic.twitter.com/pk1Vdi8CYv
— Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) June 30, 2018
The film’s lead actor, Gal Gadot, also posted a poignant message.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkp87Gpg4e5/Chrissy Teigen introduced husband John Legend to the stage while holding her new baby, Miles, in her arms.
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Legend made a stirring speech and sang his powerful (and fitting) new song, “Preach.”
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Comedian Amy Schumer attended a march alongside Scandal‘s Kerry Washington, Orange Is the New Black‘s Alysia Reiner and Top Chef‘s Padma Lakshmi.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkqDFdMlJkZ/Laura Dern attended a march with her family (and her HBO family), and she also spoke at the event.
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America Ferrera joined forces with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alicia Keys. She gave a passionate speech during the rally that touched on being a new mom and her Honduran roots.
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Keys’ speech also centered on being a mother, referencing her son Egypt, whom she brought with her.
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Miranda sang an apropos (and heartbreaking) lullaby he wrote for the parents of separated migrant children “until they can sing them to their kids again.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkqLd3FAj5P/?tagged=linmanuelmirandaAnne Hathaway posted a “Families Belong Together” banner on her Instagram, saying, “This is not about politics, it’s about people.”
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For more information about the Families Belong Together movement, visit the initiative’s MoveOn page.
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