Cesar Arredondo
Top-selling Mexican recording artists Alejandro Fernández and Fher Olvera of the rock band Maná are lending their voices to a new effort calling for immigration reform under the new Biden/Harris administration.
Just days after Joe Biden was sworn in as president, both artists posted videos online in support of the We Are Home/Estamos en Nuestro Hogar campaign on behalf of the national coalition of immigrant advocacy organizations. The videos in Spanish feature immigrants in a variety of settings—getting ready to go to work, holding a banner for Dreamers, demonstrating on the streets, and sharing family moments, and were shown during the kick-off of We Are Home on Facebook Live.
“Because of your sacrifice, because of you, because of your struggle, I’m joining the campaign We Are Home,” says Fernández. “We ask for citizenship, dignity, and a halt to deportations.” He adds, “In demonstrations, movements, and elections, I will fight alongside you.”
The Mexican Mariachi singer and Mexican rock musician seem to also offer veiled criticism of former President Donald Trump. “We are still here despite some saying we don’t belong, ready to close a chapter of cruelty, push forward and stop the imprisonment of our families,” says Fernández. For the past four years and under a “zero tolerance” federal policy, thousands of immigrant families were detained in centers that some critics labeled “concentration camps,” and thousands of children were separated from their parents.
The Mana frontman’s video is introduced with the music of the heartfelt romantic hit Rayando el Sol taking on a new meaning when addressing immigrants. “To all my compadres, conationals, and all the Latino immigrants in the United States, I wish you luck,” says Olvera. “Let’s keep pressing, let’s keep pushing to change the laws and achieve fair and dignified immigration reform, to stop those cruel deportations. And let us all keep pushing because the wheel (of change) just started to turn.”
The recruitment of the two top-selling artists was a huge accomplishment for We Are Home. Fernandez and Olvera are among the best known Latin American singers in the world and have a strong following in the U.S.
Fernández has won two Latin Grammys and reportedly sold more than 20 million records worldwide. Among his many hits stand out Nube Viajera, Si Tú Supieras and Me Estoy Enamorando.
Olvera’s band has earned four Grammys and seven Latin Grammys and reportedly sold more than 40 million albums the world over, making it arguably the best selling Latin rock band of all time. In addition to the song featured on the video, their major hits include the dance-friendly tune Oye Mi Amor and Me Vale and the romantic ballads El Puente de San Blas and Corazon Espinado, the latter recorded with the legendary rocker Carlos Santana as part of the Grammy Award-winning album Supernatural.
Both singers posted their videos on three popular social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where they have a combined following of more than 38 million people. The posts, which displayed the hashtags #WeAreHome and #NuestroHogar, have raked in tens of thousands of views in just a few days.
“Our movement has felt the presence of these two Latin icons for decades,” says Nathaly Arriola, director of We Are Home. “From protests to concerts, their songs have become anthems that have lifted us up in good and bad times. We are extremely thankful for Fher and Alejandro’s support during this historic moment in our country.” Adds Arriola, “A Together, we will work for a humane and just immigration system that will treat our community with the dignity it deserves.”
We Are Home coalition organization members include Community Change/Community Change Action, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Care in Action, Service Employees International Union, United Farm Workers, and United We Dream.
This is not the first time Fernández and Olvera come together in public campaigns in the U.S. Last year they worked on getting out the Latino vote for the presidential election.
A poll by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative reports that a record number of 16.7 million Latinos voted in the 2020 suffrage, an increase of almost a third compared to four years earlier.