Celebrities Urge Closure of Texas Child Detention Center

A coalition of prominent celebrities, artists, and advocates has signed an open letter demanding the immediate closure of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Texas known for detaining migrant children and families under reported inhumane conditions. The petition, launched on Change.org, urges the federal government and private operator CoreCivic to release detainees and implement broader reforms to end child detention nationwide.

The letter, which has amassed more than 12,700 signatures as of recent counts, begins with a stark declaration: "No child should be locked in an immigration detention center." It highlights documented abuses at the remote South Texas site, where hundreds of children and parents have been held amid ongoing ICE enforcement actions. Signatories include actors Pedro Pascal, Jane Fonda, Mark Ruffalo, America Ferrera, and Elliot Page; musicians John Legend, Brandi Carlile, Gracie Abrams, and Sara Bareilles; and others such as Madonna, Javier Bardem, Keke Palmer, Cynthia Nixon, Eva Longoria, Lena Dunham, and Michelle Williams. The effort also draws support from physicians, policy experts, and...