To help put pressure on the Trump administration to reunite families separated at the U.S. border with Mexico, Maggie Gyllenhaal called on her celebrity friends to star in a video telling the chilling story of a mother separated from her son.
The video ends with more celebrities, including Aubrey Plaza and Glen Close, reading the first line, “My name is Mirian.” Using that hashtag, many of those involved in the video have begun sharing it on Twitter to publicize the plight of these migrants.
As a result of President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, an estimated 2,700 children have been separated from their families at the border since October. When news broke that some of those separated were so young that they required being held at “tender age facilities,” the public began to demand that the president take action. On June 20, Trump signed an executive order putting an end to the practice of separating families and vowed to reunite those who have already been split up.
But as the ACLU pointed out, the order failed to outline a plan for how the families would logistically be brought back together, leaving their fates in limbo. In response, a federal judge issued an order on June 29 mandating that Trump reunite families within 14 days (and children under 5 within 10). A week and a half later, there is little evidence that this is under way.