Chrissy Teigen delivered a passionate speech at the Families Belong Together rally in Los Angeles to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. She took 6-week-old son Miles to the event, cradling him in a baby carrier around her neck.
Chrissy Teigen at the Families Belong Together March: “I’m incredibly proud to be a daughter of an immigrant.” https://t.co/Q0HTxGqLaQ pic.twitter.com/2oS1JhDcYj
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 30, 2018
Teigen recalled her own immigrant story, as she is the daughter of an immigrant from Thailand.
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“I’m incredibly proud to be the daughter of an immigrant. My mother grew up in a very small village in Thailand and she never lets me forget it,” Teigen told the crowd, reports PEOPLE. “America at its best is big, beautiful and diverse, like our great city of Los Angeles.”
Los Angeles would be “flavorless” and “boring” without the contributions of immigrants, Teigen said.
“Too many people demonize immigrants like they’re stealing something from the people born here,” the mother-of-two continued. “Immigrants don’t come here to take from us, they add to what makes America special.”
She explained that she “cannot even comprehend the kind of cruelty in the hearts of the people who have enacted this policy.”
“But I do know they did not expect us to come together in such an incredible way and incredible numbers to resist this. We are here and we are not going away. We are here because we believe America can and should do better. And John and I are going to keep showing up and speaking out, and making sure your voices are heard.”
Teigen also gave the crowd a brief impression of Trump, which landed on CNN. “My Donald impression made it to CNN. please add to my wiki,” she wrote on Instagram.
Teigen and husband John Legend made the rally a family affair. Legend also brought out a piano to perform his new song “Preach” for the first time.
Singer John Legend just sang his new song “Preach” to protesters in Los Angeles. Before that, he said: “You can’t just talk about it or tweet about it. You’ve got to do something.” pic.twitter.com/xMvt3uOCfq
— Veronica Rocha (@VeronicaRochaLA) June 30, 2018
“I know that opening up Twitter right now feels like it can be a horror show, so much of the news is shocking and maddening and depressing,” the singer said. “I think some of us have a strong temptation to just disengage, but we can’t. We can’t do that. I can’t do that. I have to do something.”
Legend and Teigen, who are also parents to 2-year-old Luna, have never been quiet about their criticisms of Trump. On the president’s birthday earlier this month, they donated $288,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union in protest of his administration.
The Los Angeles “Families Belong Together” rally was among 600 marches across the country, four days before Independence Day. According to NBC News, the New York City rally included about 30,000 people marching over the Brooklyn Bridge, chanting “Immigrants built this bridge.”
In April, the Trump Administration instituted a “zero tolerance” policy, which forced the separation of more than 2,300 children from family members accused of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. After public protests, Trump signed an executive order to stop separating families although it is still unclear how if all families already separated will be reunited.
On June 22, CBS News reported that about 500 children were reunited with family members.
Photo credit: Sarah Morris/Getty Images
