Strains of folklorico dancers, norteño musicians and lowrider bikers usually burst with cultural satisfaction on the Milpas Road Vacation Parade on Santa Barbara’s Eastside.
However this yr, organizers canceled the occasion, which dates again many years, amid fears of immigration raids as some fear that their presence on the parade — whether or not immigrant or not — may make them a goal.
“Though ICE raids could not dominate every day headlines, the risk to our Latino households documented or undocumented stays very actual,” Santa Barbara Eastside Society, which organizes the parade, mentioned in an announcement.
“The presence of immigration enforcement in our area, the concern it generates, and the uncertainty households proceed to face are actual, instant, and deeply felt.”
For many years, the parade, initially scheduled this yr for Dec. 13, had been an indicator celebration of the largely Latino group in Santa Barbara’s Eastside.
The Trump administration has ramped up anti-immigrant rhetoric, narrowed authorized paths to immigration and used photos of raids as a part of their social media technique. The impact has had a chilling impact on many immigrant communities and even amongst People of Latino descent.
Parade organizers mentioned “many longtime individuals have shared that the extent of concern and vulnerability they’re experiencing makes becoming a member of a big public occasion really feel unsafe.”
“We perceive why it’s essential to have so many joyful moments,” mentioned Jacqueline Inda, director of the Restorative Justice Training Heart at La Casa de La Raza in Santa Barbara, whose group, which helps immigrant households in concern of deportation or these arrested by federal immigration brokers, normally participates within the parade.
This yr, they felt totally different.
“We all know there are a whole bunch of individuals that aren’t going out of their houses in the event that they [don’t] must due to the concern of being noticed, reported or recognized as an individual collaborating in a extra Latino or culturally delicate occasion the place they might usually achieve this with out hesitation,” Inda mentioned, noting that the reverberations of raids in July, in addition to people who don’t make the night information, proceed to wreak havoc on households divided.
Tere Jurado, the parade’s director, informed the Santa Barbara Unbiased that the “selection follows many weeks of listening, really listening, to households, parade individuals, parade volunteers, native leaders and immigrant-rights companions who assist us perceive the lived experiences of our group.”
In October, the Museum of Modern Artwork Santa Barbara canceled its Día de los Muertos parade, citing comparable fears.
