“The sentinel, guardian of the people who become migrant laborers” was painted in respect and gratitude for a woman who is a member of a group in Los Angeles who monitors the hardware superstore parking lots where undocumented men wait to be hired for day labor construction jobs. These guardians sound an alarm if immigration authorities are coming to raid and deport the workers at those parking lots. This particular woman was recording an immigration raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a parking lot in East Los Angeles. She said she was abducted, taken to a separate parking lot, beaten, and detained. This painting took on new meaning after Immigration Enforcement’s unconstitutional murder of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota earlier this year.

This painting features my grandfather, who was an undocumented migrant worker like the men of the parking lots. He carries the bag that in my work as a journalist in China I - and many others - associated with migrant laborers, continually moving through the shadows toward a more sustainable life. The men in the background of the parking lot are silhouettes. They are living in this shadow kingdom wrought by our failed immigration policies while they wait to do underpaid labor.

- Massoud Hayoun.