ABOUT US
About the project
The Leave No One Behind Mural Project is embarked by a coalition of veteran
support groups, immigrant organizations, and academics. Through a multi-sited
public art project entitled “Leave No One Behind,” the coalition urges the Biden-
Harris administration and Congress to enact immigration policy to repatriate
Deported Veterans, protect Childhood Arrivals, end family separation, and reunite
families.
Through a multi-sited public art project, the project seeks to uplift the stories of
Deported Veterans, Dreamers, childhood arrivals, permanent residents, and the
families left behind. The project is rooted in political action and healing.
Installation sites will be prioritized to the cities in which community storytellers lived while in the U.S. For many, this is the place where they were raised, grew exclusive roots to the country and where their immediate family lives.
Our Mission & Vision
The project seeks to uplift the stories of over thirty (im)migrants currently left out of President Biden’s Immigration Reform. The murals will be displayed across various cities in the United States, where the intersection and impact of mass incarceration and deportation have been intensely felt by the passage of the 1994 Crime Bill and the Clinton era immigration laws that made the systems punitive.
The initial launch locations include Central Valley, CA; Compton, CA; Seattle, WA; Phoenix, Arizona, Las Cruces, New Mexico, El Paso, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; San Diego, CA; Portland, OR; Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico; and the final mural posted in Washington, DC.
We seek to install as many temporary murals wraps across the country in the first 100 days of the Biden Administration to demand immigration policy to
repatriate Deported Veterans, protect Childhood Arrivals, end family separation, and reunite families.
The project will launch in March 2021 with a concluding grand mural posted in Washington, D.C. by deported veteran activist Cesar Nuñez and Jesus Manuel Valenzuela, coinciding with the end of President Biden's first 100 days in office.
The coalition urges elected officials, Congress, and the Biden-Harris administration to take a series of policy steps to protect immigrants by:
- Passing an Executive Action or a series of actions as outlined by Senator Tammy Duckworth
to begin the process of repatriating deported veterans.
- Implementing the New Way Forward Act into law as reintroduced by Representative Jesus
“Chuy” Garcia.
- Taking concrete steps to end family separation and support family reunification.
Sites
The mural project launched in Tijuana, Baja California and in over thirty locations and counting.
The coalition works with local organizers to find walls, community spaces, and organize an event at mural installs. The project will culminate in a grand mural installation in Washington, D.C. by a coalition delegation coinciding with the end of President Biden’s first 100 days in office or April 30, 2021.
To continue the effort to center and uplight the stories by storytellers, we found it crucial to have a member of the immigrant community we seek to represent in the active role of art-making. The coalition has commissioned the artist Javier Salazar Rojas (Deported Artist on Instagram) to create the series of murals.
Due to the global pandemic, the method we have selected to facilitate the mural installation in participating cities allows for social distancing procedures that make the mural installation simple while still maintaining good quality and execution. The art pieces created by lead artist Javier will be reproduced as prints and installed in participating cities. On the ground, organizers will be provided with instructions and suggestions on how to proceed in the mural installation.
The murals will be accompanied by Quick Response (QR codes) that take visitors to video and audio productions that communicate the participants' stories. These QR codes allow the public to engage with their testimonies with action tools that make them participants and advocates.
The method facilitates numerous reprints of the murals, which we expect to install in the U.S. and Tijuana. The first mural will be unveiled and installed in Tijuana, Mexico, launching the call to action.
A specific mural on deported veterans will be installed in Washington D.C. in the coming months by coalition members who will deliver our petitions.
All murals will be accessible online for further diffusion and interaction, allowing audiences to download and print.
Murals
Murals are interactive. Each mural will come with separate Quick Response (QR Codes) that link to the stories of community storytellers. w Organizers will receive a blueprint of the mural indicating the names of participants to facilitate the placement of the QR codes.