The Rumba Madre Find Trouble at the Border In 'La Rumba Del Coco' [Fresh Vid]

The U.S. immigration system has been a mess for several presidential terms. In many ways, Donald Trump's xenophobic rhetoric and policies are just the most recent (and visceral) displays of a process that can be at turns frustrating, heartbreaking and brutal. Even with a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic distressing the country,

, conducting raids as well as 

at a slower pace than advocates and judges would like to see. Sometimes the news cycle feels surreal, so it's appropriate that one Nashville band decided to tackle the subject with surreal humor.

A new video from The Rumba Madre, a Nashville-based band mixing rumba flamenca, punk, son, polka and more, takes a satirical look at the machine. In "La Rumba Del Coco" the band gets arrested crossing the border — a literal dotted line in the sand that seems particularly arbitrary in the middle of a desert — over a contraband coconut.

"I bought a coconut / It's delicious / And then you come and tell me I'm illegal," go the Spanish lyrics, which also resonates with the common refrain that people aren't illegal. The border patrol agent asserts his authority in the chorus: "I'm the one in charge here / Because I own the world." 

As the band is arrested by rifle-wielding customs agents, another border guard marches a detained family by the scene. A line of people with suitcases look on and pass through a flimsy doorway after showing their IDs.

The video was actually shot near the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a press release.

The single also previews The Ruma Madre's debut album Prisiones y Fugas (or Prisons and Escapes), which they wrapped up earlier this year and is set for a May 22 release. And similar to how the band's music blends different musical styles together, the three members themselves represent Spain, Colombia and Puerto Rico.

They're also another quality group in Nashville's diverse and growing community of Latinx and Spanish-speaking musicians, something that informed their outlook when recording the video for "La Rumba Del Coco."

"As a Nashville Latinx band, we’ve always felt in between two worlds in the music scene here in town," the band says in an email to the Scene. "It is precisely to capture this duality why we went all the way to the US-Mexico border dividing El Paso and Ciudad Juarez to film the video of our first single 'La Rumba Del Coco.'"

To keep up to date with the band, check out their website.