Rock Star Manu Chao Protests Anti-Immigration Laws In New Video From Tent City Jail in Arizona

In September 2011, international French-Spanish music star Manu Chao ended his United States tour with a free concert in Arizona in collaboration with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network’s ‘Alto Arizona’ campaign. During his visit, Manu Chao participated in a protest outside of the office of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the enforcer of Arizona’s anti-immigration law SB-1070.

Manu Chao’s latest music video includes an acoustic interpretation of “Clandestino” while interviewing inmates from the Tent City jail in Arizona.

Directed by filmmaker Alex Rivera, the video features interviews with immigrant prisoners from inside the jail, where inmates are forced to endure the extreme temperatures of the desert while living outside in tents. Accompanying Manu is his long time guitarist, Madjid Fahem.

Through his music, Chao has originated and elevated global protest music with a style of music that could be at home anywhere in the world.