Neil Young Urges Artists to Use the Words of Detained Migrant Children

Aging rocker Neil Young released a statement encouraging musicians and artists to amplify the words of migrant children being held in U.S. custody by putting their stories into their work.

A post shared to Young’s website earlier this week asked artists to “embrace their stories with humility, openness, and respect, and find a way within the music community with the talents, gifts, and calling to share their words with the universe in the hope that the truth will ensure that these practices end, so that these children will suffer no more.”

“Please answer this call to amplify their voices and elevate the truth,” the post added.

The post went on to add a specific “ask,” which is the creation of a “unique song to amplify the voices of the children that utilizes their accounts from their detention in the United States by the Federal Government through Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol.”

Young’s call to action of other artists is a part of Project Amplify, a specific campaign from the nonprofit group Lawyer Moms of America. In an effort to further inspire artists, the initiative used quotes from anonymous migrant children which described living conditions in the holding facilities.

“We believe that music is universal and the best manner in which these accounts can be shared and heard throughout the world,” the post continued. “We also believe that the songs will keep the accounts and atrocities being perpetrated against these children in the minds of the public and will be a call to take action.”

Young then went on to claim that current holding and living procedures for migrant children were “illegal.”

“It is safety and a home that people are seeking for themselves and for their children,” the post added. “It is illegal what the U.S. is doing to these children and their families and there is no end in sight.”

Young, who has been critical of President Donald Trump and supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in the 2016 primary, targeted Trump last July on the topic of illegal immigration.

“All the bravado, all the you’re fired, you’re fired, all that shit, he doesn’t have the balls to look anybody in the face and tell them anything,” Young said of Trump at the time.