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# These Pillows Are One Way You Can Help Immigrants Detained by ICE
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/34000-pillows-project/
- Published: 2019-07-17T17:00:32.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:43:58.000Z
- Description: The “34,000 Pillows Project” by artist duo Díaz Lewis offers the public a way to give back to immigrant advocacy groups, and they'll be hosting a workshop and reading series for the cause at the Institute for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
- Author: Abe Ahn
- Tags: Art, Díaz Lewis, Events, ICA LA, ICE, Immigration, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:34 (2019, 2020, part 1)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2019/07/8--pillows-pile.jpg)

Díaz Lewis installation at Weinberg Newton Gallery, Chicago. Photo courtesy the artists.

As the [threat of ICE raids](https://laist.com/2019/07/14/lincoln%5Fheights%5Fchurchgoers%5Fsay%5Fthreat%5Fof%5Fice%5Fraids%5Fare%5Fscaring%5Fpeople%5Faway.php?ref=hyperallergic.com) have immigrant communities nationwide on edge, the [“34,000 Pillows Project”](https://hyperallergic.com/34000-pillows-project-diaz-lewis/) offers the public a chance to support organizations working on behalf of those currently and formerly detained by immigration authorities. In 2009, the US Congress passed a law mandating that an average of 34,000 beds be occupied in immigrant detention centers across the country. Although this mandate was repealed in 2017, [over 41,000 immigrants remain in ICE custody](https://worthrises.org/immigration?ref=hyperallergic.com), with more than 11,000 children in custody with the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Founded ten years ago by Los Angeles-based artist duo [Díaz Lewis](https://www.diazlewis.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) as a response to the detention bed quota, the “34,000 Pillows Project” is timely as ever. This Saturday, the artists will host a workshop at the Institute for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, for volunteers to collaboratively make hand-sewn pillows from recycled clothing donated by undocumented immigrants, the formerly detained, and their supporters. Pillows will be sold for $159 — the average taxpayer cost of filling one bed per night at a detention center — with all proceeds going to immigrant advocacy organizations. In the manner of the [*lectores de tabaquería*](http://www.kitchensisters.org/fugitivewaves/episode-11/?ref=hyperallergic.com) who educated and organized workers in pre-revolutionary Cuba, poets and musicians will perform readings of news, literature, and poetry about immigrant experiences during the workshop.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2019/07/7--pillow31.jpg)

Photo courtesy Díaz Lewis

**When:** Saturday, July 20, 12-5pm  
**Where:** Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (1717 East 7th Street, Los Angeles, California)

*More info at the* [*ICA LA*](https://www.theicala.org/en/events/150-reading-the-news-a-34-000-pillows-workshop?ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*