Bruce Springsteen has released an anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) song dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In recent months, ICE agents have undertaken raids in cities across America as part of President Donald Trump’s pledge to crack down on illegal immigration.
But following the fatal shooting of nurse Alex Pretti by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis last weekend, Springsteen sat down and penned the new protest track, Streets of Minneapolis.
“I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis,” he shared in a statement. “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbours and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renée Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen.”
In the song, Springsteen – a vocal opponent of Trump – questions ICE’s mission to “enforce the law” and “King Trump’s private army from the DHS (Department of Homeland Security).”
“Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice / Singing through the bloody mist / We’ll take our stand for this land / And the stranger in our midst,” the 76-year-old sings in the chorus. “Here in our home they killed and roamed / In the winter of ’26 / We’ll remember the names of those who died / On the streets of Minneapolis.”
In addition, Springsteen references the lyrics of the U.S. national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.
“Against smoke and rubber bullets / In the dawn’s early light / Citizens stood for justice / Their voices ringing through the night,” he muses.
The accompanying cover art is a black-and-white photo showing people holding protest signs with the words “ICE OUT.”
Pretti is the second American citizen to be killed amid the ICE operation in Minnesota.
On 7 January, Renée Good was shot by an agent while in her car. Trump and law enforcement officials defended the shooting, alleging the officer acted in self-defence.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Governor Tim Walz have called on the American leader to end ICE’s presence in the city.
Trump has not yet commented on the release of Streets of Minneapolis.
Springsteen is no stranger to addressing social issues in his music, with him exploring themes of patriotism and disillusionment in his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A. and recording the single, Streets of Philadelphia, for the soundtrack of the 1993 feature, Philadelphia.
The film, starring Tom Hanks, drew attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
