‘Criminal’ songwriter donates her royalties to pay immigrants' legal fees
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Fiona Apple in 2015. Photo by Sachyn Mital/Wikimedia Commons.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Fiona Apple recently wrote in a Tumblr post that she would donate 2019 and 2020 earnings from TV and movie placements of her song “Criminal” to the While They Wait fund.
“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,” she wrote.
Apple wrote Sunday that she had become “gutted with frustration” over the Trump administration’s treatment of refugees and decided to help pay for detainees’ legal fees. The While They Wait fund is coordinated by the Brooklyn Defender Services and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and it helps immigrants seeking asylum and other legal status pay for necessities, cover immigration fees and secure legal services. Pitchfork and Rolling Stone have coverage.
“What they need is representation and guidance because these people are being prosecuted as criminals just for asking for asylum,” she said in the post. “When they are separated from their children they need help navigating the system. They need to be bailed out of prison. They need money to pay for the ankle bracelets they are forced to rent and wear while awaiting arraignment, for crying out loud.”
Apple encouraged other artists to also donate earnings from one of their songs to the While They Wait fund or another organization that assists immigrants.
“Criminal,” the Grammy-winning single from Apple’s 1996 debut album, Tidal, is her “most requested song,” she said.
