The 68th Grammy Awards unfolded last night (February 1) at the Crypto.com Arena, where numerous celebrities used the occasion to voice their opposition to President Trump’s immigration policies.
Since Donald Trump commenced his second term in office in January 2025, he has been clear about his intent to tighten immigration controls. During his inaugural speech, he declared: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my Remain in Mexico policy.
“I will end the practice of catch and release.
“And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.”
Following this, ICE operations in Los Angeles and Minneapolis have sparked extensive protests in California and Minnesota, resulting in several fatalities, although the exact number remains uncertain.
The death toll due to ICE actions is at least 32 people. However, the total number, including those killed by ICE or Border Patrol agents like Keith Porter, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti, may be higher.
Given these troubling events, it’s understandable why celebrities are leveraging their influence to denounce these actions, a trend that continued at the Grammys.
Kehlani, during her acceptance speech for the Best R&B Performance Grammy, wore an ‘ICE OUT’ pin to express her disapproval.
“Everybody is so powerful in this room and in this room later, together we’re stronger in numbers to speak against the injustice going on in the world right now. So instead of letting it be just a couple of you here and there, I hope everyone’s inspired to join together as a community of artists and speak out against what is going on and imma leave this and say ‘f*ck ICE.’”
Shaboozey, awarded Best Country Duo alongside Jelly Roll for their song ‘Amen’, emphasized the contributions of immigrants, noting his mother’s immigrant background and stating that immigrants add ‘color’ to the US.
“Immigrants built this country, literally. So, this is for them, for all children of immigrants… Thank you for bringing your culture, your music, your stories, and your traditions here. You give America color.”
Jon Baptiste secured the Best Americana Album title for BIG MONEY. Although he was absent, his co-producer delivered Baptiste’s message, which concluded with: “Americana comes in many different shades and this is a country of immigrants – I’d like to remind you all of that.”
Olivia Dean, who claimed the Best New Artist Grammy, used her moment to stand in solidarity with immigrants.
“I’m up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant. I wouldn’t be here – I’m a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated. So yeah, we’re nothing without each other.”
Even though the host didn’t receive any awards, he made his stance on ICE clear through various remarks. From critiquing Nicki Minaj to jokingly requesting to live with Bad Bunny in Puerto Rico, to quipping about Trump’s intentions for Greenland, his perspective was evident.
Bad Bunny, set to perform at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, was awarded Best Música Urbana Album. He offered a hopeful message, stating: “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’re Americans.
“Also I wanna say to the people; I know it’s tough not to hate on these – and I was thinking sometimes we get contaminos, I don’t know how to say that in English. The hate gets more powerful, with more hate, the only thing more powerful than hate is love. So please, we need be different, if we fight we have to do it with love; if we don’t hate them, we love our people we love our family and that’s the way to do it, don’t forget that.”
Billie Eilish and Finneas, winners of the Song of the Year for WILDFLOWER, were unsurprisingly vocal, with Billie declaring: “No one is illegal on stolen land. And yeah, it’s just 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 and our voices really do matter and the people matter and erm, F*ck ICE.”
SZA joined Kendrick Lamar on stage to accept the Grammy for Record of the Year. Even though there was a significant mishap involving Cher, SZA refocused the moment with this message: “Please don’t fall into despair. I know that right now is a scary time I know the algorithm is telling us that it’s so scary and all is lost – there’s been world wars, there’s been plagues. We have gone on, we can go on, we need each other we need to trust each other, trust ourselves trust our hearts. We’re not governed by the government, we’re governed by god.”
