Organizers for Chicago’s annual Cinco de Mayo parade have canceled the event for a second year due to the community’s concerns about federal immigration enforcement.
The two organizers announced in a statement over the weekend that the early May event would not take place because residents are concerned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement could target people.
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“This decision comes in light of the challenges our Mexican community continues to face under this administration,” Hector Escobar, president of Casa Puebla and the Cermak Road Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a statement obtained by ABC-7. “Many families are experiencing fear and uncertainty due to increased immigration enforcement actions and the ongoing threat of raids.
“Given these circumstances, members of our community have understandably withdrawn from public gatherings and celebrations. There is nothing to celebrate.”
Cinco de Mayo, a May 5 celebration that recognizes the Mexican army’s defeat of France at the Battle of Puebla, is celebrated in communities and cities nationwide, as well as across Mexico.
The Chicago event was set to take place in the West Side’s Little Village, a neighborhood that ICE heavily targeted last fall in its effort to carry out the Trump administration’s mass deportation operation.
The same event was canceled last year, several months after President Donald Trump took office and began to surge federal law enforcement into communities nationwide to find and arrest criminal illegal immigrants.
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At the time, Escobar said organizers did not want to risk having “any confrontation or having people taken away from the festival, from the parade to custody.”
In 2024, the parade was rerouted at the last minute due to gang-related fights and arrests in the area, according to ABC-7.
