At the Grammys, more pushback to Trump’s immigration crackdown
Awards season has coincided with the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign in Minneapolis, forcing artists to decide whether and how to join the growing cultural revolt against immigration crackdowns.
Those questions again surfaced on Sunday as music’s biggest stars walked the red carpet at the Grammys. Activists spent the week pressing celebrities to don pins protesting the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in cities, working with their teams to spread the message and circulating them at the many events leading up to the ceremony.
Organizers saw a stronger showing of support on Sunday than at last month’s Golden Globes. Public backlash has grown since a Border Patrol officer shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti and federal agents detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. The recent arrest of journalist Don Lemon only added to the outcry.
Plus, as one organizer noted, the Grammys tend to draw a less risk-averse crowd than Hollywood’s shows.
“These are folks who are known for six-stage shows, crazy costumes, being kind of rebellious, punk rock—like that’s the music industry. And so, I think it makes sense that we would see good support,” Maremoto executive director Jess Morales Rocketto said. “These pins are about so much more than a red carpet moment. It’s about people taking a stand and doing what they can to show up to say that ICE should be out of our communities.”
Protest apparel
Earlier in the week, Mexican American singer Becky G had an explicit message for ICE on the nails she wore to the MusiCares Person of the Year gala.
Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Kehlani and Rhiannon Giddens were among the artists wearing protest apparel on the Grammys red carpet. Kehlani cursed ICE in her acceptance speech for best R&B performance.
Vernon, whose band Bon Iver is up for best alternative music album, said he wore a whistle to honor the legal observers who are documenting federal agents’ actions on the streets.
“I think there’s a reason that music exists and it’s to heal and to bring people together,” he told The Associated Press (AP). “But the real work are those observers on the ground in Minneapolis. We just want to shout them out.”
At the Sundance Film Festival last week, several celebrities wore pins saying “ICE OUT” during their red carpet appearances, including Natalie Portman, Olivia Wilde and Zoey Deutch, who also wore a “BE GOOD” pin, referencing Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE officer last month.
Wilde told the AP that she was “horrified by this string of murders that we are somehow legitimizing and normalizing.”
Portman got emotional when asked about her “ICE OUT” pin at the premiere of her new film, “The Gallerist.”
“I’m so lucky to be here in a joyful, creative community celebrating a movie we’re really proud of. But it’s impossible to ignore what ICE is doing to our country. And I’m very inspired, though, by all of the amazing, amazing Americans who are coming out and supporting each other and being there in communities. It’s beautiful,” the actor said as she teared up.
As far as the Grammys go, Rocketto, the community organizer who founded the Latino advocacy group Maremoto, said it’s “kind of a crapshoot” as to which entertainers actually wear the pins.
She described a range of industry forces working against artists’ political expression. Objections could come from record companies, managers or corporate partners.
