El Carnaval de Puebla, the annual celebration of Mexican culture in South Philadelphia, has been cancelled for a second straight year over concerns that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could use the event as an opportunity to detain participants who are undocumented.
“The people are being cautious … we don’t want to have one incident where people are being detained,” event committee member Olga Renteria said.
“The atmosphere is tense,” Edgar Ramirez, the founder of Philatinos Radio and a coordinator for the Carnaval, said through a translator. “If we do it, people will come, but I think it’s also our responsibility not to expose them if it’s not necessary.”
In addition, it doesn’t make financial sense for the sponsoring businesses to put on the festival if many fewer people end up attending, he said.
The April parade on Washington Avenue and festival in South Philly celebrates Mexico’s 1862 victory over French occupiers at the Battle of Puebla. It has been Philadelphia’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration and one of the largest carnavals on the east coast, attracting up to 15,000 people from around the country in past years.
ICE carried out multiple raids around the city and the region last year, prompting protests and new policies in some jurisdictions to reduce cooperation with the agency.
While necessary, the continuing suspension of the event will come as a blow to Mexican immigrants in the area who have been attending the 20-year-old festival and others like it all their lives, Ramirez said.
“The Puebla carnival is a tradition that the participants have had since childhood. It’s something they long for. So they’re losing an important space to be happy, at least for one day,” he said. “We want to have a free, healthy, and proud space. Hopefully, the situation will improve in the future.”
Renteria said that the group is planning smaller events this year to support the local businesses that usually benefit from the celebrations. That could include Cinco de Mayo events put on by the Mexican-American community in South Philadelphia’s 9th Street Market area, Ramirez said.
Danza Tonantzin, a Mexican folk dance group that participates in the carnaval, was a part of this year’s Mummers parade celebrations on New Year’s Day, joining Fancy group Golden Sunrise.
Pamela Plata, the director of the dance group, said its involvement in the other events helps to show Philadelphia’s Mexican community that they can still be proud of their heritage.
“I don’t want my children to grow up in fear and see me that I’m in fear or my children to, you know, to be afraid,” Plata said through an interpreter. “I’m getting a message to my children that they have the right to be here. They have the right to participate.”
Renteria said that the frigid weather on New Year’s Day didn’t deter the young dancers participating for the group, a sign of how many are responding to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
“This whole administration is bringing something else to our younger generation. They now feel more proud,” Renteria said. “They feel like, ‘Why are they doing this to us, to my parents?’ So they have the courage to go out there and be strong, and this is something very, very powerful.”
Danza Tonantzin will be participating in the Three Kings Day celebrations at the Kimmel Center on January 7.
El Carnival de Puebla will also be highlighted in the Mummers Museum’s “Festival of Many Colors” event series, which is scheduled to run from mid-February till May.