Am I Next? Public Art Campaign Rises as a Bold Call for Justice

Walls of Los Angeles cultural institutions last week became canvases depicting Angelenos abducted from this city’s streets.  

LA is home to 10 million people. In the home of the nation’s largest immigrant community, CalMatters reported in June, Immigration, Customs Enforcement (ICE) rounded up 1,600 people, most of whom have no criminal conviction, during raids in Los Angeles County. 

Amidst this growing injustice, California Community Foundation (CCF), the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) and LA Plaza Cultura y Artes, have joined together with other cultural institutions throughout Los Angeles to tell the story of hundreds of Angelenos in a public art initiative, Am I Next?. 

As of Oct. 29, the Migration Policy Institute  reported there were 39,000 detainees in ICE custody when Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, that number rose to a record 61,000 in late August.

Human Rights Watch analysis of the data confirms the sharp increase in arrests during the surge in raids from May 28 through July 28, the last day of available data. During this period, ICE alone arrested 540 people per week on average.

On Nov. 13 an “exhausted” Memo Torres of  L.A. Taco reported in the previous two days they saw, combined, over 50 people taken in LA; a number that they saw a month-and-a-half ago for a whole week. In his reel, Torres warned that this isn’t going to go away. It’s only going to get worse. And to stay vigilant.

LA County and regions across the country are continuing to lose parents, pregnant mothers, brothers, sisters, children, students, workers, grandparents, friends and neighbors. With this project CCF stands against racialized targeting and the destruction of civil liberties.

Through projections of images, measuring about 20 by 30 feet, billboards and visual storytelling, the campaign brings real faces and truths into public view in an act of resistance and an invitation for collective responsibility. Two longtime racial justice advocates, actors and activists Edward James Olmos and George Takei, have served as the faces and voices in support of this campaign, inspiring action.

CCM’s mission, until this stops, is to tell the stories of these people whose rights have been violated — until the raids end. Am I Next? raises the urgent question: If people are arrested without regard to constitutional rights, who is safe? 

At JANM, images of people are projected onto the museum’s pavilion. JANM will juxtapose images of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II with Angelenos standing against the ICE raids. The museum’s historic building and Norman Y. Mineta Democracy Plaza is where more than 37,000 Japanese Americans from Los Angeles boarded buses bound for America’s concentration camps in 1942. You can view the projection anytime after dark at the pavilion.

More images will appear in high-visibility areas in downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach, and the Westside.

LA artist and cultural art educator Lilia Ramirez shared her projected image Ningun Ser Humano Es Ilegal for this project on Instagram which was highlighted in an LA Times story.

“Am I Next” Campaign alongside La Plaza de Cultura y Artes project “We Belong Here” on November 6, 2025 was launched!” Ramirez posted.

“The project transforms exterior walls into a nightly light installation from sunset to dawn, exploring the experiences of migrant workers and undocumented communities with themes of resilience and resistance.

The installation at LA Plaza features over 30 large-scale works by nine Los Angeles-based artists.”

Details: www.aminextla.org