Maggie Gyllenhaal and More Stars Advocate for Families Separated at U.S.-Mexico Border

President Trump’s controversial “zero-tolerance” immigration policy has forced thousands of children to be separated from their parents and be detained in what critics have likened to concentration camp-style facilities.

Now, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union and a handful of Hollywood’s most notable names, Maggie Gyllenhaal is advocating for migrant parents who have yet to be reunited with their kids.

On Tuesday, the ACLU and Gyllenhaal released a video, in which she and other stars tell the story of an asylum-seeking mother named Mirian, whose 18-month-old son was taken away from her after fleeing Honduras for the U.S. Mirian’s son turned two on July 4.

In the four-minute clip, Ryan Reynolds, Amy Schumer, Chadwick Boseman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Glenn Close, Lena Waithe, Jamie Lee Curtis and more read from Mirian’s affidavit, in which she explains that she was seeking protection from government violence after her home in Honduras was teargassed. Mirian also details the emotional aftermath of having her son torn away from her by U.S. officials without explanation.

Gyllenhaal created the video with Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. Mirian is part of the ACLU’s lawsuit against the U.S. government for its separation of migrant families. Trump’s zero-tolerance policy began in April. Since then, more than 2,300 children have been taken away from their parents.

Though Trump repeatedly said that only Democrats could fix the family separation crisis, the reality star-turned-politician signed an executive order in June stating that families would be detained together going forward. However, many migrant families still remain separated.

For more information on Gyllenhaal’s #MyNameIsMirian initiative, visit the ACLU’s website.

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