As Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio comes under increasing scrutiny for numerous suspicious and brutal deaths of inmates in his custody, the culture of racism he has cultivated and his refusal to investigate allegations of rape and abuse, the plight of millions of undocumented workers is still in the lurch.
Here is a 11 min piece we made around this time last year that gives voice to some of the ‘identity-less’ people who have suffered at the hands of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The interviews were filmed in part for CRIMINALES TODOS, a travelling community art exhibit aiming to inspire an ongoing dialogue and examination of the social, political and cultural issues related to the criminalization of communities of color. From post-Civil War vagrancy laws targeting newly freed African Americans in the South, to police rounding up Japanese Americans and sending them to internment camps during WWII, to SB1070 targeting Latinos in Arizona; the history of police targeting communities of color has deep roots in American history.
In times of increased police surveillance, tightened border control and the implementation of anti-immigrant and racist laws across the country, we encourage artists to engage in a conversation about the devastating repercussions of policing and the militarization in our local communities.