Folkloric dancers, northern musicians and lowriders usually line up in the Milpas Street Holiday Parade on Santa Barbara’s East Side, exuding a sense of cultural pride.
But this year, organizers canceled the event, which dates back decades, amid fears of immigration raids and some fearing their participation in the march — whether immigrants or not — could make them targets.
Santa Barbara’s Eastside Association, which organized the march, said in a statement that “while ICE raids may no longer dominate daily headlines, the threat to our Latino families, documented and undocumented, remains very real.”
“The presence of immigration enforcement in our region, the fear it creates, and the uncertainty families continue to face are real, immediate and profound.”
The parade, scheduled for Dec. 13 this year, has been a signature celebration of Santa Barbara’s predominantly Latino community on the East Side for decades.
The Trump administration has ramped up anti-immigration rhetoric, narrowed legal pathways for immigrants and used images of raids as part of its social media strategy. The impact has had a chilling effect on many immigrant communities and even Latino Americans.
“Many long-term participants have expressed that the level of fear and vulnerability they experienced made them feel unsafe attending large public events,” march organizers said.
“We understand why it’s important to have so many moments of joy,” said Jacqueline Inda, director of the Casa de la Raza Restorative Justice Education Center in Santa Barbara. The organization helps immigrant families who fear deportation or arrest by federal immigration agents and typically attends the march.
This year, they feel different.
“We know that if they [don’t] “They often don’t hesitate to do so because of the fear of being spotted, reported or identified as attending a more Latino or culturally sensitive event,” Inda said, noting that the fallout from the July raids, and those that didn’t make the evening news, continues to wreak havoc on divided families.
“We made this choice after weeks of listening and really listening to families, march participants, march volunteers, local leaders and immigrant rights partners who helped us understand the lived experiences of our community,” parade director Tere Jurado told the Santa Barbara Independent.
In October, the Santa Barbara Museum of Contemporary Art canceled its Day of the Dead parade, citing similar concerns.
