A group of high-profile Hollywood figures including Pedro Pascal, Madonna and Mark Ruffalo have joined forces to demand the closure of a controversial U.S. immigration detention facility, warning that children are being subjected to deeply troubling conditions.
The stars are among dozens of signatories on an open letter calling for the immediate shutdown of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been detaining children alongside their parents.
The letter opens with a stark message: “No child should be locked in an immigration detention center.”
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Other notable names backing the call include Jane Fonda, Javier Bardem, America Ferrera, Elliot Page, John Legend and Susan Sarandon, alongside a broad coalition of artists, activists and public figures.
The intervention comes amid mounting scrutiny over conditions inside the facility, which is operated on behalf of ICE by private detention company CoreCivic. Reports have repeatedly raised concerns about treatment within the centre, with accounts suggesting serious issues around health, safety and basic living standards.
According to reporting cited in the campaign, “Children have complained of limited education, lights that never turn off and moldy food.” It is also claimed that amid a wider immigration crackdown, “more than 2,300 children” have been detained with their parents — “with the overwhelming majority held at Dilley… Many have been held for several weeks or months.”
The open letter itself goes further, outlining what it describes as systemic failings within the detention system.
“Children held in immigration detention endure trauma, neglect and conditions that violate basic standards of health, safety, dignity and human rights,” it reads.
It continues: “Court filings of abuse against children have included refusals to provide clean water, rotten food contaminated with worms, dangerous medical neglect, sleep deprivation, denial of legal counsel, the separation of children from their families, and retaliation against families protesting the inhumane conditions. Children belong in schools and on playgrounds, not in detention centers.”
The signatories are calling not just for the facility’s closure, but for wider reform.
“We urge the federal government and CoreCivic to close the Dilley facility immediately, return children and families to the homes and communities they were taken from and to end child imprisonment now. Our commitment does not end with closure. We demand transparency, accountability, and systemic reforms to prevent these abuses from happening anywhere in the United States.”
The issue has also gained traction beyond Hollywood. Children’s educator and online personality Ms. Rachel — whose real name is Rachel Accurso — has become an outspoken advocate after learning about individual cases linked to the facility.
She previously spoke about the emotional impact of speaking directly with detained children via video calls.
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“It was unbelievably surreal to see this sweet little face and feel like I was on a call with somebody who’s in jail. It broke me, and it was something I never thought I’d encounter in life… We’re trying to get a child out of a jail to do a spelling bee. I just never thought those words would go together.”
Her involvement followed cases including that of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was detained alongside his father, and nine-year-old Deiver Henao Jimenez, who was also held at the centre with his family.
The Dilley facility has faced repeated allegations of abuse, disease and dehumanising conditions in recent months, placing it at the centre of a wider political and humanitarian debate around U.S. immigration policy. The open letter is directed at multiple figures and agencies, including ICE leadership and government officials, as campaigners intensify pressure for change.
The petition linked to the campaign has already gathered more than 15,800 signatures, reflecting growing public concern. It also follows large-scale protests across the United States, where millions have taken to the streets in opposition to current immigration policies, chanting 'No kings' in reference to the way Donald Trump is running his office.
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While the political debate continues, the message from those behind the letter is clear — and unequivocal.
“Children belong in schools and on playgrounds, not in detention centers.”
