Music groups My Morning Jacket and Cake, Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine have teamed up — not to headline a music festival — but to encourage Congress to pass the Gang of Eight’s immigration reform bill next week.
These musicians, along with more than 100 other celebrities, signed a letter addressed to President Obama and Congress asking them to reform immigration because, as they put it, “immigrants are Americans.” Other notable signatories include actors Robert Redford, Stockard Channing and Rosario Dawson.
“We believe that this predicament reflects not only a failure of policy but a failure of imagination,” the letter reads. “Migration is natural and beautiful.”
The letter outlines several demands, including amnesty for the 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States and equal immigration rights for LGBTQ individuals and families.
It was sponsored by the organization Migration is Beautiful, which is a coalition of three progressive organizations that promote the creative community’s involvement with public policy.
While it’s unclear if the opinion of hundreds of celebrities will have an impact on the Senate vote, Hollywood’s ties to the Capital have only grown since President Obama took office in 2009.
Particularly in recent months, hundreds of Hollywood celebs have been adding their names to different letters supporting various progressive causes. Yoko Ono, the widow of former Beatle John Lennon, along with actors Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon frequently protest the fracking process. “Friends” star Matthew Perry has visited Washington on several occasions to lobby on behalf of drug court funding efforts, and last month a host of Hollywood A-listers signed a letter demanding Obama reform the nation’s drug and prison policies.
