Jennifer Lopez has urged her fans to take action to fight against America's controversial immigration policy.
Many celebrities have taken to social media recently to condemn the U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration's zero-tolerance approach to illegal immigration, in which children are separated from their parents as they crossed the U.S. border from Mexico.
Jennifer, mother to 10-year-old twins Max and Emme, added her voice to the outcry on Thursday night (21Jun18) by writing an impassioned plea on her Instagram page besides the now-famous photo of a two-year-girl crying after being separated from her family, taken by award-winning Getty Images photographer John Moore.
"Reading the news about the separation of children from their families, I can’t help but think about my own children," she wrote. "I cannot fathom a world where they would be ripped from my arms, taken to a place no better than a prison far from home.
"I feel we will never forget this moment in time. Bearing witness to these atrocities and that’s what they are, I can say for sure, remaining silent is not an option."
The Latino star, who was born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, urged her fans to get up to speed with "this disastrous display" and call up their "congressperson" and demand answers.
"This is about basic human rights and decency," she continued. "We first need to admit we have a problem before we can heal it. We cannot focus on the evil, we must push towards unity and get to a healing place. ITS ALL IN OUR HANDS (sic). Supporting one another in these troubled times, we can remain on the right side of history: the side where children are safe and in their parents arms. Act now, call now, speak now, LOVE now."
The worldwide outcry led to Trump signing an executive order to halt the practice on Wednesday, but the minors have not been reunited with their families. On Thursday, a Pentagon official confirmed that up to 20,000 immigrant children were already on their way to military bases to be housed in the months ahead.
Denis Javier Varela Hernandez, father of the crying girl, told Spanish-language TV network Univision they have been reunited, but are still in U.S. custody.
