ICEBREAKER, Pinto's traveling, outdoor, art installation commemorates the lives of human beings who died under the custody of and/or killed by the agents of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICEBREAKER was conceived and built in February 2026 while we witnessed the incredible resistance that unfolded against the murderous tactics used by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the streets of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

ICEBREAKER was unveiled on March 18, 2026, on the corner of Harbrooke Avenue and Arbana Drive, Ann Arbor, MI. Pinto used his front yard in a middle-class street as the site for ICEBREAKER to evoke the neighborhoods under attack in Minnesota, and the American Dream of homeownership, family values, and safety. Using 6-feet long by 4-feet tall prefabricated white picket fence modules, Pinto created the entryway to the American Dream which includes peaceful, thriving, and protected residential neighborhoods. 

On each slat of the fence are the known names of those who died under custody of and/or killed by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement from January 2025 to recent days. As a foreboding certainty, many slats have been left vacant for the names that are still to come. The clarity of the names on the picket fence slats contrast deeply with the alien identities of fully armed, unidentified, masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents responsible for their death. 

Around the fence, cemetery-like white wreaths stand as memorials evoking the immortality of the soul. Pinto encourages visitors to add flowers, toys, stuffed animals, and myriad other items around the site to create a public display of grief. ICEBREAKER is a memorial, a place of Descanso (in Portuguese) or resting place, a theme that is found in Pinto’s previous installation, Realm of the Dead, where he highlights the horrors of the Brazil’s dictatorship (1964-1985), during which he was born and grew up.

Starting on April 19, ICEBREAKER began its journey to several other locations (dates and locations below).