Natalia Lafourcade Reimagines Mexican Folk Music

In the streets of Los Angeles, in June, as the city clashed with ICE, the most visible symbol of the protest was the Mexican flag, the tricolor raised over the haze of tear gas and black smoke. Online, the symbol of resistance against immigration raids was something softer. On Instagram and TikTok, the children of Mexican immigrants shared photos of their parents with the same trending audio: “Hasta la raíz,” a song released by the Mexican artist Natalia Lafourcade in 2015, not long before Donald Trump descended his golden escalator. “It’s personal because if my grandparents didn’t risk their lives migrating 'Pal Norte,’ I wouldn’t be the first one in my family to graduate college,” Grecia Lopez, a radio and TV host, wrote in an Instagram post that included a grainy film photo of her grandfather, with “Hasta la raíz” playing over it.