This Smart New Song Is Teaching Immigrants About Their Rights

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Latin GRAMMY-winning band Flor De Toloache have launched a song – hitting airwaves today – that aims to help prevent human rights abuses by conveying important information about the rights immigrants can exercise when interacting with law enforcement and immigration authorities.

The single ‘El corrido de David y Goliat’ out now on Chulo Records, is the first release of the Immigrant Songs Initiative, created by Wing, the multicultural unit of Grey. It is available on all digital streaming platforms and for sale on iTunes today. 

The song is a corrido, a popular narrative music genre about oppression, the daily life of peasants, and other socially relevant topics. Many corrido stories relate to the lives of people living near the border, who deal with fear and abuse on an everyday basis. One of the goals of this project is to reach people who may not have access to modern media where legal information is commonly dispersed – which is why the song is being played on broadcast radio, with distribution tailored to specifically focus on regions with high immigrant populations.

“Knowledge is power – the power to remain free and safe,” said Mary Bauer, director of the SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project. “This incredible song by Flor de Toloache has the potential to empower a lot of immigrants in a creative way. We’ve seen too many cases where immigration officials have illegally and unfairly apprehended immigrants, disregarding their basic human rights. The more people know about their rights, the better.”

The effort includes a video to share the broader message of the Immigrant Songs Project. It provides further understanding of the legal abuse suffered by many immigrants and refugees across the border. The video is live on the SPLC website and will be distributed to news and media channels.

New York-based Flor De Toloache band members hail from countries as varied as Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Australia, Colombia, Germany, Italy, and the United States. At the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards in 2017, they took home their first career Latin GRAMMY win for Best Ranchero / Mariachi Album for Las Caras Lindas. They previously earned a 2015 Latin GRAMMY nomination for Best Ranchero Album for their self-titled album. 

This song release comes a day after the Southern Poverty Law Center, the National Immigration Law Center, and the law firm of Sherrard, Roe, Voigt & Harbison filed a lawsuit on behalf of workers detained during an April 2018 immigration raid at an East Tennessee meat processing plant. During the raid the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained approximately 100 Latino workers, violating their rights against illegal seizures and to equal protection under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.