George and Amal Clooney said they are donating $100,000 to the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights on Wednesday to help support minors separated from their parents or guardians at the U.S. border due to President Trump’s zero tolerance approach toward illegal immigration.
“At some point in the future our children will ask us: ‘Is it true, did our country really take babies from their parents and put them in detention centers?’ And when we answer yes, they’ll ask us what we did about it. What we said. Where we stood,” the couple in a statement to People, referring to their one-year-old twins Ella and Alexander. “We can’t change this administration’s policy but we can help defend the victims of it.”
The Clooneys’ donation, made through their charity, the Clooney Foundation for Justice, follows other high-profile contributions from celebrities, including model Chrissy Teigen.
Teigen and her husband, singer John Legend, announced on Thursday that each member of their four-person family would give $72,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union to mark Trump’s 72nd birthday after the pair were “outraged” by the family separation issue.
Trump’s zero tolerance policy has been condemned by those on both sides of the political aisle because it has resulted in many children being taken away from their family units as the Justice Department prosecutes all illegal border crossings.
[Also read: Facebook campaign raises $10 million to reunite immigrant families at the border]
The White House is pushing Congress to address the situation with legislation, defending the federal government’s position by arguing the administration is following the law.
