The band La Santa Cecilia released the song El Hielo (ICE) from their album Treinta Dias in early April 2013.
[1] El Hielo (ICE) provides an insight perspective of the problems of illegal immigration to the United States through the lives of three characters.
[7] “ICE is the largest investigative agency in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”[8] The lyrics, “set to a bouncy bossa nova groove”, tell the stories of three hardworking undocumented characters who fear separation from their families because, “ICE is loose out on the streets”, as the chorus clearly states.
[10] In the first half of the first verse, La Marisoul sings, “Eva using a rag to wipe clean the table/Cautiously making everything shines like a pearl/When the boss gets home, she hopes there’ll be no complaints/Accusing her of being illegal.”[11] The chorus then addresses the stories of families that have been separated by deportations of the Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
One of the most moving visuals of the lyrics is found in the line about children crying at school, when they realize that their mom is not coming to pick them up.
[12] La Santa Cecilia began to gain national attention and recognition after exposure on hit TV shows Weeds and Entourage.
[5] On April 10, they attended an immigration rally in Capital Hill in Washington, D.C. where they sang this song and marched to the ICE offices.
Alex Rivera and NDLON have previously partnered to produce music videos for artists like Manu Chao and Ana Tijoux, in order to raise awareness of the effects of the current immigration system.
[3] In 2012, the lead singer of La Santa Cecilia, Marisol Hernandez, collaborated with the abc* Foundation to produce a music video for Mexico Lindo y Querido.