Becky G Says Immigration Crisis is “Dehumanizing”

Becky G is one of the top Latinx artists but she hasn’t forgotten where she came from. The 22-year-old Mexican-American singer grew up in Inglewood, Los Angeles and during a recent interview with Hola! magazine, she discussed her pride in her roots and the current state of immigration in the U.S.

“I’ve always considered myself Latina. I’m 100 percent proud to be from Los Angeles, but I’m also 100 percent proud to be ‘Mexicana de corazón, de sangre,'” Becky G said. The songstress, who just premiered a new single, “Dollar” with Myke Towers, has opened up in the past about confronting the idea of not feeling Latina enough as a second-generation Mexican.

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“‘You don’t look Latina‘ or ‘You don’t even speak Spanish.’ These are the remarks that us second- and third-generation-born American Latinos often hear. The truth is, the lack of language knowledge does not lessen the Latin blood running through our veins or the stories our last names carry,” she wrote in an essay for PopSugar.

In the Hola! interview, she discussed how her grandparents made sure she grew up aware of her culture and traditions so that despite having been born in the states, she’d still have a connection to her roots. “My grandparents have always made it a priority for us to be aware of our culture, our morals, our traditions. In our family we are so united; we are so supportive — where one person eats, 20 can eat. Where one person can sleep, 20 can sleep. And as funny as it sounds, it’s actually very beautiful because when I was 9 years old we lost our home, and we went from house to house, from family member to family member to live there. Sharing is a big part of our culture.”

Becky G has also been open in the past about how she’s maintained a strong sense of her culture, saying food and music have both been integral. In the same PopSugar essay, Becky G recalls cooking in the kitchen with all the generations of women in her family while Selena played in the background and how she grew up listening to live mariachi music at every family function.

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When discussing the border crisis and separation of families with Hola!, Becky G expressed that she feels a lot more needs to be done to improve the current situation.

“Some people think there’s only so much we can do. But we have to keep pushing, keep raising awareness and keep talking about it. If not, it’s going to become normalized that there are children dying while basically being held captive, mistreated, not being taken care of properly — separated from their families,” Becky G told Hola! “Separating families, children taking care of children, babies not having their diapers changed, people without proper food or places to sleep… to me that’s so dehumanizing.”

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