“I want to say I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant. I wouldn’t be here,” said Best New Artist winner Olivia Dean
Music artists used their platforms to both advocate for our country’s immigrant communities and condemn the federal government’s deadly and chaotic anti-immigrant agenda during Sunday night’s 68th annual Grammy Awards.
View this post on Instagram
Bad Bunny received a standing ovation after opening his Best Música Urbana Album acceptance speech “with powerful words directed at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid rising violence,” People reported.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say ICE out. We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans,” he said. “The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that’s more powerful is love. We don’t hate them – we love our people, we love our family. And that’s the way to do it.”
The Puerto Rican rapper – who is also set to headline next weekend’s Super Bowl halftime show – has been vocal in his condemnation of the federal government’s brutal tactics against its own people, and announced last fall that his ongoing world tour would skip U.S. dates out of fear that masked mass deportation agents could stalk concertgoers outside his shows. Masked mass deportation agents “could be outside,” he said in September. “And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
No one is illegal on stolen land. – Billie Eilish while accepting her Grammy for song of the year.
— Daniel Thompson (@dr-thompson.bsky.social) 2026-02-02T03:18:05.701Z
Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, another performer who has been outspoken about ICE, again did not shy away from the issue following her win for Song of the Year.
“I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything, but no one is illegal on stolen land,” Eilish said. “It’s really hard to know what to say and what to do right now. I feel really hopeful in this room and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting. Our voices really do matter and the people matter.” People reports that Eilish was heard saying “f— ICE,” but was bleeped in the broadcast.
Olivia Dean during her #GRAMMYs acceptance speech for Best New Artist:“I’m up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant, I’m a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.”
For several recipients, immigration is a deeply personal matter. British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean “made a point to recognize her background and her family history with immigration,” Rolling Stone reported. “I want to say I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant. I wouldn’t be here,” she said during her speech accepting the award for Best New Artist. “I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.”
Singer and rapper Shaboozey’s heartfelt speech following his win for Best Country Duo/Group Performance honored his immigrant mom before focusing on the overall contributions of all immigrants to the United States.
“I also want to thank my mother, who as of today, has retired from her job after 30 years working in the medical field as a registered nurse in the psych ward,” he said. “She worked three to four jobs just to provide for me and my four siblings as an immigrant in this country. Thank you, mom.”
“Immigrants built this country, literally. So this is for them,” Shaboozey continued. “For all children of immigrants, this is also for those who came to this country in search of better opportunities, to be part of a nation that promised freedom for all and equal opportunity to everyone willing to work for it. Thank you for bringing your culture, your music, your stories and your traditions. You give America color, I love y’all so much. Thank you.”
SHABOOZEY: “Immigrants built this country.”
— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) 2026-02-02T00:41:51.120Z
After becoming the first Spanish-language performer to win the coveted Album of the Year award, Bad Bunny “spoke extensively in Spanish except for one sentence in English,” The Minnesota Star Tribune reported. “I want to dedicate this award to all the people who had to leave their homelands and follow their dreams,” he said.
And, in red carpet remarks prior to the show, music icon and Best Tropical Latin Album winner Gloria Estefan cited lessons from the Holocaust and said that “silence is our biggest enemy,” Mediate reported.
“People, families are being torn apart, children, hundreds of children are in detention and in horrible conditions,” Estefan said. “I have personal experience with people in my circle that their loved ones have been taken away and have been months in detention for no reason because they haven’t been deported, they haven’t done anything. So no, we need to stand up,” she continued.
Other attendees also supported immigrants by wearing pins protesting ICE, the AP reported. “Billie Eilish, Finneas and Carole King wore pins while appearing onstage. Even Justin and Hailey Bieber, who don’t normally address American politics, had them.”
View this post on Instagram
Americans have been doing just that in communities all across the country. In recent days, National Nurses United, the largest nurses union in the nation, organized a series of nationwide events condemning ICE and the murder of VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti. “It is a core value to advocate for our patients and our communities,” fellow ICU nurse Roxette Villegas said at one event in Los Angeles. “What Alex Pretti was going – he was doing the exact same thing. He was using his nursing experience to advocate outside of the hospital.”
And national polling continues to show that among everyday Americans, ICE continues to hemorrhage credibility by the day.
“55% of Americans say they have very little confidence in ICE, an increase of 10 percentage points since mid-December,” YouGov said Jan. 27. “Confidence in ICE has declined most among Independents: 67% now say they have very little confidence in the agency, up from 49% in December.” Americans “are also more likely to support cuts to ICE than to other types of federal government spending: 51% want ICE funding to be decreased a lot or a little,” the polling continued.
