In a new Tumblr post, Fiona Apple has pledged to donate all "Criminal" earnings from film and TV placements from this year and next to the While They Wait Fund. According to the fund's website, they "help pay for necessities, cover immigration fees, and secure legal services for those who risked everything to be here [the United States] while they wait to find out if they can stay."
"After months and months of reading the news about how my country is treating refugees, I've become gutted with frustration trying to figure out the best way to help," Apple writes. "Of course you can donate money for the bare necessities, toothbrushes, blankets, tents, Pedialyte, etc., but after much searching... It seems to me that the best way I can help detainees is to contribute to payment of their legal fees."
In the post, Apple points out that part of the criminalization of refugees involves separating them from their children and families just for seeking asylum. Other injustices include jailing refugees with high bail fees and requiring them to rent ankle bracelet monitors while they await arraignment.
To help spread the word on While They Wait's initiatives, Apple also encouraged other artists to contribute. "I want to ask other songwriters to donate just ONE TIME, the money they get for the usage of one of their songs to this organization or one of their choosing," she writes. "I could write a song about this and maybe I will but for now, I will use "CRIMINAL" to help the WRONGLY criminalized get justice."
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