Thousands of protesters gathered Sunday in downtown Los Angeles to protest President Trump’s aggressive policies against undocumented immigrants and promise of mass deportations, causing traffic gridlock in the hours ahead of the Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena.
The protest began in the morning and grew in number through the afternoon, per the Los Angeles Times, with protesters sporting Mexican and Salvadoran flags and signs reading slogans like, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” referring to California’s agricultural industry and its reliance on undocumented immigrants. At one point, a group of protesters marched onto the 101 Freeway, putting traffic to a stop on one of the city’s main commuting roadways.
The afternoon has sparked concerns about punctuality for some Grammy attendees, with one rep mentioning that the blocked roads in downtown L.A. could cause late red carpet arrivals. The ceremony itself begins at 5 p.m.; no delays for the show are being forecast at this time.
Notably, there is no indication that the protest is targeting the Grammys specifically. Awards shows have drawn activist movements, as a pro-Palestine gathering formed directly outside the Grammys last year. But Sunday’s protest against the Trump administration is just one of several that’s come together across the U.S. in the past week, including demonstrations in Chicago and St. Louis.
In his first weeks in office, President Trump has declared a national emergency at the southern border, deploying troops to the area and signing executive orders that allow for more extreme sweeps conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump has also ordered a detention facility in Guantanamo Bay to house migrants that have been detained.
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