Art, Music, and Movement Catalyze Resistance Amid U.S. Immigration Crackdown

15 July 2025

Portraits of people taken by immigration authorities are displayed in front of Los Angeles City Hall on July 4. (Etienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images)

In the face of intensified immigration enforcement including sweeping ICE raids, federal troop deployments, and mass detentions, artists, musicians, and community activists are marshaling culture into a powerful tool of resistance, using creative expression to elevate voices often silenced by policy.

In Los Angeles, the response to June’s harsh federal actions morphed quickly into a movement where culture meets protest. One of the most vivid examples emerged at Plaza Olvera, in downtown L.A., where a mariachi band backed by Norteño music from Los Jornaleros del Norte played on the back of a pickup truck, providing the soundtrack to a crowd of men, women, and children dancing polkas and cumbias. No speeches were given, and no megaphones raised just music that carried resilience and defiance. Participants waved signs demanding "ICE out of LA," declaring through movement and melody that culture can build solidarity where silence once prevailed.

These gatherings have become a blueprint for a broader turn toward aesthetic activism. In both Paris and Los Angeles, runway models, dancers, and drummers have taken to public and symbolic stages to protest immigration policies. Fashion designer Willy Chavarria drew particular attention with a recent Paris show that featured kneeling models clad in white, referencing Salvadoran prison imagery to challenge deportation and erase immigrant identities. Back home in L.A., cultural expressions have been woven into nearly every protest: mariachi performances, folklórico dances, drumming circles, and music-driven rallies all help communities reclaim their spaces and speak their truths.

This cultural turn is not merely about spectacle. It represents a shift toward sustained resistance tactics led by nonprofits, faith-based groups, labor unions, and direct-impacted communities. Organizers are hosting know-your-rights workshops in church halls, rotating performances in public plazas, and distributing real-time alerts during ongoing raids. Such events fuel local empowerment and counter state narratives that see immigrants as invisible or disposable.

The frequency of federal enforcement actions has created a heightened climate of fear in immigrant neighborhoods. In Houston, the Mariachi Festival saw a 25 percent decline in attendance this year, with some musicians even refusing to perform in certain areas due to fears of detention after recent ICE operations. Against this backdrop, the choice to protest through art becomes a strategy for presence and preservation.

A legal pushback is unfolding simultaneously. A federal judge in California recently halted some indiscriminate immigration stops, citing Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations and mandating that detainees have legal representation. Activists and advocates see culture-driven gatherings as key to maintaining visibility and public support during court battles. These events are living testimony to what’s at stake and help humanize the legal fights now unfolding in courtrooms.

Despite media portrayals that have labeled these protests as isolated or insurrectionary, on-the-ground reporting including from the Washington Post reveals largely peaceful, community-driven efforts rooted in dignity and solidarity . One reporter emphasized that dismantling immigrant families and sowing fear in daily life through raids in homes, schools, workplaces, constitutes the true crisis.

As this cultural wave gains momentum, it illustrates how art, music, and dance can transcend traditional protest tactics. These aesthetic interventions lay bare the resilience of communities under threat and establish new terrains of resistance where beauty and defiance coexist. Whether through mariachi in the street, fashion on the runway, or folklórico in the plaza, each performance underscores a shared message: oppressed communities deserve to thrive, not be erased.

This cultural response is more than symbolic. It is a dynamic strategy that both shields communities and reshapes grassroots organizing. It makes invisible lives visible and builds bridges across social divides. And it shows that resistance can be found in shared rhythms, bodies in motion, and the stories that songs carry.

As the U.S. prepares for another national wave of protests later this month under the "Good Trouble Lives On" movement, these cultural tactics will continue to anchor local efforts in collective expression and resilience. Viewed in this light, what began as a reaction to fear has grown into an emboldened cultural front, a reminder that creativity and solidarity remain potent forces in the pursuit of justice.