J. Lo's Super Bowl Halftime Show choreographers address the political implications of those glowing cages

It was easy to overlook amidst the ecstatic bombast of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday, but, as the performance inched towards to its close, a momentary lull gave way to a subtle flourish many are interpreting as a political statement: a handful of glowing “cages,” in which sat Latino children.

The imagery contains multitudes, especially during a time in which the U.S. government’s taken to separating immigrant families at the southern border and confining them in cages. From inside one of the cages, Lopez’s 11-year-old daughter, Emme Maribel Muñiz, begins singing a somber version of her mother’s “Let’s Get Loud.” Behind her, a chorus of girls wearing hoodies emblazoned with the American flag raise their voices. Lopez, meanwhile, dons a Versace feathered coat that features the Puerto Rican flag on one side and the U.S. flag on the other. Soon, they’re covering Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The U.S.A.”