Billie Eilish Said "No One Is Illegal on Stolen Land"— In Reality, The Theft of Native Land Is a Blueprint for Border Patrol and ICE

This month, pop superstar Billie Eilish won a Grammy for her single “Wildflower.” But the award was not what made headlines.

“As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything,” Eilish started her acceptance speech, “but that no one is illegal on stolen land.”

In the long month of January 2026, federal officers operating under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown tear-gassed an infant, tackled public school teachers, dragged a disabled woman out of her car, detained a preschooler, and killed two American citizens on the streets of Minneapolis. This the violence that sparked national outrage and Billie Eilish’s comments. “It’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now,” the singer continued, “I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting.”

“Fuck ICE,” she concluded.

The backlash to Eilish’s acceptance speech at the 68th annual Grammy Award was immediate. Republican and right-wing leaders were outraged by the singer’s comments, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz. “One simple question: are we right now on stolen land?” Cruz asked a Netflix executive during a Senate hearing days later.

“When you see an entertainer say, ‘Nobody is illegal while we’re on stolen land,’” Cruz went on. “And then you see entertainers leap to their feet, clapping so excitedly at the notion that America is fundamentally illegitimate, it starts to convey that the entertainment world is deeply corrupt.”

So to recap, in the past two weeks, the slogan “no one is illegal on stolen land” received a standing ovation at the Grammys, scrutiny at a Senate hearing, and widespread debate on social media. But what does that slogan actually mean?

This post was written as a contribution from Rebecca Nagle. Rebecca Nagle is an award-winning journalist and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Nagle’s debut book, By The Fire We Carry: the Generations-long Fight for Justice on Native Land, was an instant national bestseller and a New Yorker Book of the Year. Nagle is also the writer and host of the podcast This Land. You can read more from her on her Substack Native America.

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