But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight.”
A background chorus sings chants of “ICE out of Minneapolis,” interlaced by drums and a harmonica solo.
Springsteen, a 76-year-old giant of rock and folk with 20 Grammy wins, discusses a violent winter, where “bloody footprints” mark where “mercy should have stood”.
His lyrics name two Minneapolis protesters killed by federal agents this month: Renee Good, a poet who was shot as she appeared to drive away from an agent; and Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse shot after a swarm of agents restrained him and appeared to secure his handgun.
Trump and Administration officials initially suggested both Good and Pretti were trying to harm the agents, but have backtracked amid contradictory evidence and condemnation that crosses the political and cultural spectrum.
Springsteen references White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s “dirty lies”.
“The Trump Administration is focused on encouraging state and local Democrats to work with federal law enforcement officers on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities – not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.
Springsteen’s song, which he said he wrote the day Pretti was killed, reflects a wider backlash among musicians to Trump’s immigration policies. Billy Bragg, an English rocker and long-time political activist, released his song City of Heroes on Tuesday. And independent artists had previously uploaded Minneapolis-specific protest tracks to YouTube and SoundCloud.
Like Bragg, Springsteen has supported left-leaning causes throughout his decades-long career. He opened his European tour last year by calling Trump “unfit”, and Trump has dismissed him in turn as a “dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker”.
Springsteen’s song The Ghost of Tom Joad discussed poverty, and We Are Alive describes America’s historical struggles for civil rights.
His classic Born in the USA laments the repercussions of the Vietnam War, but the irony of its lyrics is often lost on politicians, including Trump, who have turned it into a feel-good staple of their political rallies.
The title of Springsteen’s new song is an obvious reference to Streets of Philadelphia, which Springsteen wrote in the 1990s for the Tom Hanks movie Philadelphia, one of the first mainstream films about the HIV/Aids crisis.
In December, the Washington Post reported that the ICE is planning a US$100 million ($165m) recruitment pitch as it seeks to hire thousands of agents and deport thousands of people each day.
The campaign uses ads that echo action movies and video games, and targets gun rights enthusiasts, military supporters, podcast listeners and country music fans.
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