Small American towns cancel expos celebrating Latino culture: “The atmosphere of fear is real” | American Immigration

Harrisonburg, Virginiaa 50,000-person town in the Shenandoah Valley should be filled with the colors, sounds and smells of Latino culture. Football game, taco truck, Salvadorian chanchona Last month, the music band and about 4,000 visitors will attend the town’s Hispanic Festival in the gymnasium outside the town.

But this year it didn’t happen.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents Already active In the Harrisonburg area for several months, organisers prompted to cancel the festival.

“There was a raid in the past that targeted immigrant families and workplaces. Although we have no confirmed reports that the ICE plan is targeting the festival, the overall atmosphere of fear is very real,” said Crimson Solano, executive director of Coalición Solidaria solidaria pro-Insmim-Insmigrantes Unidos (Cospu).

“This fear undermines the purpose of the festival and is creating a safe, celebratory space for our community.”

Festivals and fairs are the middle stages of American life in small towns. But now from Rural Indiana Go to a small village Washington State arrive The cornerstone Appalachian town Such as Harrisonburg, Latinos and other international festivals, will be cancelled this summer due to concerns about raids from hockey agents.

In the first five months, the Trump administration detained about 109,000 people, the vast majority of whom were detained. No criminal recordas part of the government’s massive deportation efforts. Between January and June, ICE will evacuate approximately 150,000 people from the country.

“Our poll shows 43% of Latino Voters fear they may be arrested by immigration authorities, even if they are citizens or have legal status, which undermines the daily life of the Latino community.

“We urge our communities to understand their rights, unify and demand an end to the analysis – because no one should be afraid to celebrate their contribution to this country.”

In addition to the damage caused by the target to community relations and other elements of social capital, the cancellation of the festival hits local authorities: food trucks, suppliers and other businesses pay local authorities thousands of dollars to licenses to sell their goods to local authorities in front of a large audience attending the festival. The sponsor paid thousands of dollars.

Solano said most of the budget for the Harrisonburg Hispanic Festival will be back directly into the community, paying to local police stations, audio engineers, tent and toilet hosts, and many others.

“Cancelization also hurts suppliers, many of which are small immigrant-owned businesses,” he said. “Some suppliers can make two to three months worth of revenues equal to those within a day of the festival.”

While communities in larger metropolitan areas such as Chicago and Pittsburgh have also seen cancellations, their larger size means local authorities and suppliers can often be financially hit as they have a year-round population to sustain them.

But for small towns, e.g. Crookston, Minnesotapopulation 7,250, and Madras, Oregonpopulation 7,750 – Latin American festivals in summer and autumn play a key economic role – cancellation is even greater.

In Washington Carnation, population 2,100, organizers have Latin Day event cancelled The original August 16 is partly due to concerns about the uncertainty of visa visas and slow sales of visas due to concerns about the raids of ICE Agents.

“We are very aware that many Latino cultural events have been cancelled due to the safe care of the community, which has also had a significant economic impact on musicians, artists and suppliers,” said Laura Vilches, manager of Latin and Immersive Programming at Seattle Theatre Group, responsible for the festival.

“We are committed to finding opportunities for these bands and local artists at other events throughout the year and will revisit the concept of Latino music festivals in due course.”

Although the facts are The vast majority In the United States, foreign-born residents are legally located in the country. In addition to labor, immigrants have played an important role in restoring and maintaining small towns that strive to stick to their residents in recent years.

According to the U.S. Immigration Commission, the number of immigrants living in rural areas Increased by 5.5% Between 2010 and 2022, the U.S.-born population shrank by 3.1%. Many immigrants fill blue-collar work on farms and grain production and manufacturing facilities, which in turn pays millions of dollars in taxes to local authorities.

This is life in Huntingburg, a small town of 6,500 people Indiananearly one-third of residents are considered Latino or Hispanic.

This year, too Cancel its festival Latin American event Fears of ice are targeted every year for ten years Many people’s anger.

In Indiana, federal military devices 100 miles from Huntingburg will be converted into deportation facilities due to crowding at other locations used to detain detainees, which helps the fear of local immigrant communities.

The Guardian emailed the Dubois County Republican chairman seeking comments on the cancellation of Latin American festival events. Dubois County fuses Huntingburg and won 70% of the vote in the presidential election last November.

In the past, Republican leaders in rural America have broadly supported local international and Latino communities, largely due to the major economic role they played. Now, some are beginning to openly oppose the Trump administration’s indistinguishable deportation program, which targets thousands of people without a criminal record.

“I’m very clear on the record: the worst, first,” Republican Indiana Governor Mike Braun, Said recentlyto express his uneasiness to the nature of the deportation.

But others are firmly aligned with the White House. In February, at the request of Republican Governor Glen Youngkin, Virginia Police signed a cooperation agreement with the ICE.

“Cancel our Hispanic Day makes our Hispanic Day heartbreaking,” said Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed. More than twice Virginia average.

“Our Hispanic community lives in fear every day. Ice is rampant in Harrisonburg after the Trump administration took over. So I understand why they’re cancelled because of fear and safety – I agree with them.”