Hollywood Heavyweights Demand Immediate Shutdown of Dilley Detention Center Amid Abuse Allegations

A growing chorus of outrage from Hollywood stars and activists is turning up the heat on the federal government and private prison operator CoreCivic to shutter the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas. This prison-like facility, used to detain children and families following ICE raids, has become a symbol of systemic abuse and neglect.

The petition demanding Dilley’s immediate closure has swelled to over 215,000 signatures, including notable figures such as Jodie Foster, Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Ed Norton, Janelle Monáe, Ava DuVernay, and Alyssa Milano. The letter, first announced late last month, condemns the "trauma, neglect and conditions that violate basic standards of health, safety, dignity and human rights" endured by children held in immigration detention.

Court filings and multiple investigative reports have exposed a litany of abuses at Dilley: refusal to provide clean water, serving rotten food contaminated with worms, dangerous medical neglect, sleep deprivation, denial of legal counsel, family separations, and retaliation against detainees protesting these conditions. The facility gained widespread attention after federal authorities detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos there following ICE raids in Minneapolis, with haunting images of the child in custody wearing a Spider-Man backpack sparking national outrage.

Carly Pérez Fernández of the Detention Watch Network emphasized the urgency: "Family detention, like all immigration detention, is inhumane and unjust. Childhood is a fleeting period that sets the foundation for lifelong well-being — it must be protected."

This latest wave of celebrity signatories amplifies a broader movement demanding accountability and systemic reform. The call to close Dilley is not just about one facility — it’s a demand to end the cruel, punitive approach to immigration enforcement that tears families apart and inflicts lasting harm on children.

We will keep tracking this fight and the growing resistance against ICE’s abusive detention practices. Because children belong in schools and playgrounds, not behind bars.