LOS ANGELES, United States: Music´s A-listers on Monday lashed out at the immigration raids rocking the United States at the Grammy Awards, with Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny setting the tone.
Anger was palpable at President Donald Trump´s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, whose heavily armed and masked agents have been deployed in multiple US cities.
The killing of two US citizens by federal agents last month in Minneapolis raised the temperature for many Americans, already anxious over what they think are unfocused operations unjustly sweeping up anyone who speaks Spanish or has brown skin.
“Before I say thanks to God, I´m gonna say ´ICE out´,” Bad Bunny said to cheers from the audience in Los Angeles -- only a week before he is due to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
“We´re not savages, we´re not animals, we´re not aliens; we are humans and we are Americans,” the singer said after being given the Grammy for Best Musica Urbana Album. The reggaeton star was not alone in calling out the actions of ICE, one of the lead agencies involved in the crackdown.
Among the couture frocks by Valentino, Chanel and Saint Laurent on the red carpet, several of those attending added an “ICE out” button to their outfits.
They included power couple Justin and Hailey Bieber, veteran songstress Joni Mitchell, US singer Jordan Tyson and actress and singer Helen J. Shen. Gloria Estefan said “I´m scared, I´m very worried,” Gloria Estefan told AFP backstage after winning the Grammy for best tropical Latin album.
“I don´t think anyone would say we want a free-for-all at the border, but what is happening is not at all ´criminals being arrested´. “These are people that have families, that have contributed to this country for decades, little children. There are hundreds of children in detention centers. It´s inhumane. I don´t recognize my country at this moment.” “I guess I want to say I´m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant,” British singer Olivia Dean -- who has an English father and a Jamaican-Guyanese mother -- said after scooping the prestigious Best New Artist Grammy.
