Culture

New Meme Reminds Ivanka Trump That the Child Separation Crisis Is Ongoing

The crisis continues, so why is Ivanka's low point behind her?

by Josie Rhodes Cook
Twitter

A whole lot of identical “Dear Ivanka” posts started showing up on Instagram on Monday, and the sudden trend of several celebrities reposting the same message for the current president’s daughter are trying to raise awareness for a very important issue: immigrant children being separated from their parents.

A slew of celebrities that Trump herself follows, including Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, and Alexa Chung, are taking part in a campaign urging Ivanka Trump to speak out about the family separation policy of President Donald Trump’s administration. In addition, the end of the campaign message calls for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Inverse reached out to the White House for comment on the campaign and about calls for Nielsen’s resignation, but did not receive a response as of publication.

The identical message, posted to several different celebrity Instagram accounts, notes that Ivanka has said these recent family separations set in motion by her father’s administration were a “low point” for her, but that in reality, this isn’t a past tense concern. “This crisis is ongoing,” the message notes.

What Is the Campaign?

In an Axios interview on Thursday, August 2, Ivanka said the family separation crisis was “a low point in the White House.”

Ivanka went on to say, “That was a low point for me as well. I feel very strongly about that, and I am very vehemently against family separation and the separation of parents and children.”

But the message that was re-posted by several celebrities as part of the “Dear Ivanka” campaign noted that Ivanka treated the issue as if it had already occurred and was over. The message began:

Dear Ivanka, You follow me on social media. You said family separation was a ‘low point’ for you. The low point is for the separated families. You spoke in past tense. This crisis is ongoing.

And the campaign appears to be an attempt to both remind Ivanka of just how serious this crisis still is, and to ask her to lend her voice towards efforts to see Nielsen’s resignation, presumably over her department’s handling of the crisis.

The Trump administration has previously blamed Democrats for the child separation crisis, suggesting that the separation crisis could be stopped by bipartisan legislation, but it was also started and could be stopped by Trump administration policy.

Who Is Participating in the “Dear Ivanka” Campaign?

Celebrities Ivanka follows on Instagram are taking part in the campaign, to use their amplified voices to bring attention to the fact that “572 children have not been reunited,” and that 400 parents have already been deported without their kids. “A child has died after separation,” the message pointed out. “There have been multiple claims of sexual and physical abuse in detention.”

Schumer, Handler, and Chung are just a few of the celebrities taking part. Girlboss co-founder and CEO Sophia Amoruso also participated, as did model Cara Delevingne.

Who Started the Campaign?

The campaign was organized by Sarah Sophie Flicker, Paola Mendoza, and Alyssa Klein, who all helped with the Women’s March, according to Fortune. But it’s truly taken off with Hollywood stars who are all followed by Ivanka on Instagram.

Celebrities started a similar campaign in 2017 revolving around the passage of the DREAM Act, that would give undocumented people brought to the US as children a path to citizenship.

Whether or not Ivanka has seen these memes is unclear. We’d hope that someone tasked with helping run the country isn’t spending too much time scrolling through social media… but clearly, some can’t help themselves.

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