Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal are among a star-studded cast of stars to read an emotional letter from a migrant mother separated from her son at the U.S./Mexico border.
In a four-minute video entitled My Name Is Mirian, shared by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) via YouTube earlier this week, Ryan, Jake, his sister Maggie Gyllenhaal, Amy Schumer, Oscar Isaac, Glenn Close, Thandie Newton, Chadwick Boseman, Kumail Nanjiani and others shed light on the ongoing troubles associated with U.S. President Donald Trump's border separation policies by reciting the mother's heartbreaking story.
Honduras resident Mirian was separated from her 18-month-old son at the Texas border earlier this year (18) after leaving her country to seek asylum and "protection from government violence".
"On February 20, 2018, my son and I crossed the international bridge in Brownsville, Texas, and presented ourselves to U.S. immigration officers,” the letter reads. “The U.S. immigration officers then told me that they were taking my son from me. They said he would be going to one place and I would be going to another. I asked why the officers were separating my son from me. They did not provide any reason."
The mother, who had no idea she would be separated from her only child for seeking help, added that immigration officers forced her to put her son in a car and quickly shut the door before she could comfort or say goodbye to him.
"I was going crazy wondering what was happening to my son," she wrote, adding that the incident has left her depressed and unable to eat.
Her son, who has reportedly been crying and calling for her ever since, was forced to celebrate his second birthday without her on 4 July.
Over 2,300 children have been removed from their parents at the U.S./Mexico border between May and June. Trump signed an order banning the separation last month, but the administration's "zero tolerance" policy of persecuting illegal border crossings remains in place.
Hollywood figures continue to speak out against the family separations, with a number of celebrities including Chrissy Teigen and husband John Legend also taking part in a Families Belong Together protest march on 30 June.
