'Ice El Hielo' Brings Deportation Protest To Song (VIDEO)

Latin alternative group La Santa Cecilia wants to give the problem of deportation a human face and a soundtrack.

In collaboration with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and filmmaker Alex Rivera, the band released a powerful music video this week for the song “Ice El Hielo,” which portrays the problem of illegal immigration from the perspective of undocumented immigrants, who constantly face the threat of having their families separated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE:

Ice is roaming free on the streets / You never know when it’s going to get us / The kids cry, crying when they leave / They cry when they see that mom didn’t come home.

Most of the video’s actors are undocumented, including prominent activist Erika Andiola. Two of the actors currently face deportation proceedings, along with both parents of actor Katherine Figueroa, according to a message that rolls at the end of the video.

As Aura Bogado over at the Nation points out:

Aside from featuring people who live through the horrors of an immigration system that pivots on instilling fear, Rivera also took the unusual step of choosing to humanize an ICE agent in the video. “ICE agents are not phantoms—they’re making decisions, and they’re complicit in a violent system,” says Rivera.

The song’s title, “Ice El Hielo” plays off the Spanish translation of the agency’s acronym.

The Obama administration has deported record levels of immigrants, with the total passing 400,000 last fiscal year. A bipartisan group of 8 senators is expected to submit a proposal for comprehensive immigration reform as early as this week that includes a path to citizenship for the undocumented.

Check out the song in the video above and let us know what you think below in the comments.