The New Love (DACA)

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an administrative relief from deportation. DACA was created on June 15, 2012, by former President Barack Obama. The purpose of DACA is to protect eligible immigrant youth (who came to the United States when they were children) from deportation. Once elected, in 2017, President Trump attempted to rescind DACA but his efforts have been challenged in the courts and deemed anti-constitutional. In an important but limited attempt to protect DACA, the Biden administration published a final rule last month (September 2022) codifying existing DACA policy into regulation and finally moving the policy out of the shakier realm of agency memo. While the rule preserves deportation protections and work authorization for current DACA recipients, the program is still under immediate threat from the pending Fifth Circuit lawsuit, and additional legal challenges to the rule are anticipated.

Immigration has been the central theme of my artistic work, both in film and documentary photography, performance, installation art, screen printing, billboards, banners, and now sculpture. In all my work, the objective has been not only to produce works of art, but mainly to collaborate with the subjects of my work. Throughout my career, I have worked with organizations serving refugees, immigrants, maquiladora workers, and environmental activists from Alaska to Argentina, Italy, and South Africa.

The New Love (DACA) seeks not only to celebrate the dream of more than 700,000 DACA* recipients, but also to push for a legislative solution and to ensure permanent protection. While fighting to protect DACA, movement leaders are keeping their eyes on the broader goal: securing a pathway to citizenship for the many millions of undocumented individuals in this country.

The New Love (DACA) is conceived as a soft sculpture measuring 12 x 12 x 6 feet. Making a nod to the iconic sculpture LOVE by Robert Indiana (1970), which can be found in various cities and museums in the United States, The New Love sculpture seeks to re-contextualize the meaning of the word love from a visual questioning of our relationship with immigrants.

America has entered a new era of divisiveness as evidenced by the radical decrease in refugees, the separation of children from their parents, and even talk of limiting citizenship to children born only to legal immigrants. Yes, it is often said that America is a country of immigrants, a place where the American Dream is attainable for all; this project is spurred by this collective amnesia and cognitive dissonance. The new Love sculpture’s audience is the immigrant community - those whose families immigrated here days, months, years or generations ago.

For more information please contact:
Sergio De La Torre
sanctuarycityproject@gmail.com