Inspired by the stories of our neighbors and the artist’s lived history, “American Barricade” portrays the narrative of living as an undocumented family in a time of erasure. The central figure is veiled, putting the viewer’s interpretations between “consecrated” and “hidden” in dispute with one another. In Catholic tradition, the veil marks what is holy and beyond ordinary sight, whereas an undocumented immigrant is an identity our government renders invisible. This disagreement speaks to the irony of our country’s religious views, which are frequently used to justify the denial of humanity to our fellow man. The stars cut from the veil are drawn from the North Star quilt pattern, which points families like ours north to Canada. Today, we see community missions shielding the path to that border, protecting those whom ICE would otherwise swallow whole in detention facilities.