Braving ICE Fears, Latinos Are Still Turning Out For Festivals, Though In Lesser Numbers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A sea of smiling faces greeted community activist Roberto Hernàndez last month as he looked around the growing crowd on Mission Street, one of San Francisco’s oldest Latino communities, to see the first televised lowrider parade. It gave him chills.

Many of them were people Hernàndez knew through his activism in the community and efforts to create the San Francisco Lowrider Council. He said they’d been afraid to go outside since the immigration raids started earlier this year. When they saw Hernàndez during the lowrider event on Sept. 20, they thanked him, hugged him, kissed him.

“That vibe, that energy, that happiness, it was like magic,” Hernàndez said. “I got so many hugs and kisses, I’m still wiping makeup off my face.”

Months earlier, Hernandez was thinking about the best way to stand up against the Trump administration’s hardline stance against Latino immigrants. Violent immigration raids across California and the rest of the country have generated fear, depression and anxiety among not just the immigrant community but anyone who looks the part, Hernandez noted.

Over 2 million immigrants have been deported since Trump took office on Jan. 20, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Regular ICE raids across the country have prompted some cities to cancel Latino community events.

In Long Beach, city officials have canceled the annual Day of the Dead parade usually held in early November. Pasadena canceled its Latino Heritage Parade in October. And Sacramento’s Mexican Cultural Center canceled its Independence Day celebration in September.

“El Grito,” a two-day festival in Chicago that celebrates Mexican culture and independence, was also canceled. Organizers said they were heartbroken by the decision, but felt allowing the festival to continue would put community members at risk.

Last week, the Bay Area was on high alert after Trump threatened a deployment of ICE agents. But despite that threat, Day of the Dead festivities are proceeding in San Francisco and many other Bay Area cities.

For Hernàndez, canceling the parade or the “King of the Streets” competition wasn’t an option.

“We said, ‘No, we’re going to celebrate,’” Hernàndez said. “We’re not going to cancel. We’re going to continue and stand up and be proud of who we are.”

For years, the Lowrider Council has hosted “King of the Streets,” an annual car show featuring lowriders and a “hopping” competition that brings thousands of car enthusiasts to the Bay Area. A few years ago, Hernàndez had the idea to incorporate a parade into the already popular event.

This year, Hernàndez asked CBS to televise the event, emphasizing how important it was, given Trump’s mass deportation agenda, regular ICE raids and the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing “roving patrols” and racial profiling by federal agents taking part in immigration enforcement.

Usually, the event is held in August, but Hernàndez thought it would be more impactful to hold it during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Given the current political climate, Hernàndez expected maybe several thousand people, mostly car enthusiasts, would show up.

Instead, 300,000 people filled out the Mission District to watch the event, Hernàndez said police told him. The San Francisco Police Department would not provide Patch with a crowd estimate.

“It was beautiful to see,” Hernàndez said. “We have a target on our head. I believe that if we organize, which we are, we will win this war.”

Other events, however, haven’t been as well-attended. This year’s Mexican Independence Day celebration in San Francisco’s Civic Plaza saw fewer people, according to Simo Padilla, who has helped organize the event for the last four decades.

The plaza usually fills out completely, with thousands of people, Padilla said. This year, fewer than 1,000 people gathered at the plaza in anticipation of the “El Grito de Independencia,” a battle cry that signifies the start of the Mexican revolution against Spain.

“It brings me great pleasure,” Padilla said in Spanish as she looked at the many that did come. “Wherever we are, we carry Mexico in our hearts.”

One of those attending was Reyes, a San Francisco resident, who asked not to use his first name out of fear of being targeted by federal agents.

Reyes said he went to represent the people who couldn’t be there, to show people that they shouldn’t be afraid, but should be proud of who they are.

“People are scared right now, more than anything, because of the current situation,” Reyes said. “Who wouldn’t want to go back to their country, but on their own volition, without losing everything earned through hard work and sacrifice.”

Marlene Montañez, an associate director at the nonprofit Long Beach Forward, said turnouts at many events have been low, given the fear ICE raids have instilled in immigrant and Latino communities.

So much so that Montañez wonders whether it’s worth having public events celebrating the culture. Much, she said, has been lost to fear.

“People can’t even exist in parks,” Montanez said. “It takes away the ability for us to connect, be in community and celebrate our unique culture.”

Hernàndez, however, believes one way to counter the violence and fear is to continue putting on celebrations highlighting Latino cultures.

“It’s about us standing up, speaking up,” Hernandez said. “You can’t stay still, you can’t hide.”

This story is part of “The Stakes,” a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities.