Hollywood Stars Demand Shutdown of Texas ICE Detention Center Holding Children

When Ms. Rachel—the beloved children's educator whose videos have comforted millions of toddlers—tells you something is wrong with how we treat kids, maybe it's time to listen.

More than 218,000 people have signed a petition demanding the immediate closure of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, an ICE family detention facility in Texas where children have been subjected to conditions that advocates describe as nothing short of torture. The signatories read like a Hollywood call sheet: Pedro Pascal, Natasha Lyonne, Ava DuVernay, Jodie Foster, Spike Lee, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, and dozens more.

"No child should be locked in an immigration detention center," the petition states flatly. It's hard to argue with that premise, yet here we are.

A Prison for Children

The Dilley facility, operated by private prison company CoreCivic, has become a symbol of the Trump administration's brutal immigration enforcement regime. Court filings document a litany of abuses: refusal to provide clean water, food contaminated with worms, dangerous medical neglect, sleep deprivation, denial of legal counsel, family separations, and retaliation against families who dare to protest the conditions.

"It's a Hell hole, a prison," one petition signatory told Deadline. "It's a blight on America."

The facility exploded into national consciousness earlier this year when 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos—identifiable by his blue hat and Spider-Man backpack—was seized during ICE's deadly siege of Minneapolis and surrounding areas. ICE used the kindergartner as bait to capture his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, then shipped both to Dilley. The cruelty was the point.

After massive media attention and public outcry, Liam and his father were released on February 1. But they continue fighting deportation orders to Ecuador, and the asylum-seeking family remains in legal limbo.

The Celebrity Coalition

The petition's signatories span generations and genres. Oscar winners like Alejandro González Iñárritu and Jodie Foster signed alongside television stars like Wunmi Mosaku, Morgan Spector, and Carrie Coon. Musicians Joan Baez and Janelle Monáe joined actors Diego Luna, Tatiana Maslany, and Edward Norton. Even LA28 Olympic board member Jessica Alba added her name.

The letter is directed at CoreCivic, Donald Trump, ICE Director Todd Lyons, and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (who was recently ousted from her position). The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.

Ms. Rachel, whose anti-ICE stance has drawn predictable fury from the MAGA crowd, issued a statement that cuts through the political noise: "Every child, everywhere, deserves to feel safe, to be cared for, and to be treated with dignity. We can all agree that no child should be locked in an immigration detention center and subjected to these cruel conditions. This is not who we want to be."

A Pattern of Abuse

The harms of detaining children are not theoretical—they are documented, litigated, and ongoing. Reports of disease outbreaks, inadequate medical care, and psychological trauma have plagued Dilley and similar facilities for years. Children belong in schools and on playgrounds, as the petition notes, not in detention centers run by for-profit prison companies with financial incentives to keep beds filled.

In recent weeks, the number of families held at Dilley has reportedly fallen, according to human rights advocates and federal sources. But protests have erupted both outside and inside the facility over the conditions, and the fundamental question remains: Why are we imprisoning children at all?

Beyond Closure

The petition does not stop at demanding Dilley's closure. It calls for transparency, accountability, and systemic reforms to prevent these abuses from happening anywhere in the United States. It demands that children and families be returned to the homes and communities they were taken from.

The letter represents a coalition that extends far beyond Hollywood. Physicians, activists, and organizations like ActionAid USA have joined the call. The message is clear: child imprisonment is not immigration enforcement. It is state-sanctioned cruelty.

CoreCivic, the private prison company that profits from Dilley's operation, has not commented on the petition. Neither has ICE. The silence is telling.

As the petition continues to gather signatures, the question facing the administration is simple: How many more children will be traumatized before Dilley is shut down for good?