Chicana Painter Criselda Vasquez Says ICE Detained Her Father
Vasquez was inspired by her Mexican immigrant parents to paint her celebrated 2017 portrait “The New American Gothic.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has detained the father and portrait muse of California-based Chicana painter Criselda Vasquez, the artist said in an Instagram post.
“My father and one of his workers were detained by ICE while simply on their way to work,” Vasquez wrote on April 3. “Our entire family is heartbroken, and my mother is completely devastated.”
The family has not publicly named Vasquez's father. Vasquez noted in her post that he had been in the United States for over 40 years now.
In an April 13 email to Hyperallergic, Vasquez said that her father had been “racially profiled on his way home from work, and taken by Immigration authorities,” on Tuesday, March 31, adding that he had been pulled over and arrested right outside of a neighbor's home.
“My family and I have since made contact with him and know which detention facility he is being held in,” Vasquez said.
Through a GoFundMe linked on the artist's social media, the family raised nearly $68,000 of a $80,000 goal within 10 days of its launch. In a statement attached to the fundraiser, the family said the money would go toward his lost wages and legal fees associated with his detention.
“What I want the public to know about my father is that he is a devoted husband, parent, and grandfather, and the hardest-working, most selfless person I know,” Vasquez continued in her email to Hyperallergic. “He has become a role model not only to his four children, all of whom are United States citizens, but also to many people he has come across.”
“My father's hard work, dedication, and sacrifices will never be forgotten and will continue to be a long lifetime inspiration to me and my family,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez depicted her father in her celebrated 2017 painting “The New American Gothic” (2017), a reimagining of Grant Wood's “American Gothic” (1930) featuring both of her parents, originally from Mexico, holding cleaning products and a hoe. The Lucas Museum for Narrative Art in Los Angeles acquired the painting in 2021. In an earlier statement about the work, the artist had said that she sought to depict the “plight and the plight of many in my community.”
In a previous social media post, Vasquez described her parents' influence on her figurative painting practice, which seeks to unveil hidden aspects of the Mexican-American life.
“When my parents pose for these paintings, their faces are reduced to extremely raw and somehow vulnerable expressions,” Vasquez said. “Sadly, they strive to be invisible every day. They have dealt with constant rejection, suspicion, and fear so long, that it seems now that it comes naturally to them.”
“In the long tradition of immigrants that come to the United States, they have made homes here, and they are just trying to live a simple life with a bit of security and hopefulness for their children,” Vasquez continued.
The news of Vasquez's father's arrest comes amid President Trump's ongoing crackdown on immigrants in the United States. A recent report from the Deportation Data Project, which analyzes immigration enforcement data, outlined that ICE street arrests — as in those occurring in neighborhoods, immigration courts, and check-in appointments at ICE offices — had increased more than elevenfold during the first year of Trump's second presidency. It's also significantly harder to get released from immigration detention amid deportation proceedings, the report notes.
