Prioritizing However, this year, the beloved celebration—which typically draws as many as 300,000 attendees—has been called off.
Prioritizing Chicago joins a growing number of cities across the United States that have canceled or reduced the scale of cultural festivities amid heightened fears surrounding President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies.
Prioritizing Organizers say many Latino residents, regardless of their immigration status, are fearful of attending large public gatherings due to the risk of arrest.
Prioritizing Advocacy groups report that the fear has extended to daily routines, with some individuals now avoiding work, school drop-offs, and even religious services.
Prioritizing Since January, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has intensified operations in so-called “sanctuary cities” like Chicago—jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
President Trump has also expanded ICE’s authority to include enforcement actions near sensitive areas such as schools and churches, and has pushed for the deportation of individuals suspected of gang involvement, often relying on minimal evidence.
“We’re not willing to take risks with our community’s safety,” said Hector Escobar, president of Casa Puebla and the Cermak Road Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s a financial loss, yes, but protecting people is more important than money.”
UnidosUS, the country’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy group, reports that 43% of Latino voters fear that immigration authorities may arrest people—even those who are U.S. citizens.
This fear has led cities like Philadelphia to cancel long-standing cultural traditions.
Olga Renteria, one of the festival’s organizers, said members of the community worried that ICE agents might attend the event and target participants.
“People are staying cautious—no celebrations, no large gatherings.”
Catalina Sánchez Frank, executive director of the Latino Community Association, said the decision was made out of concern for community safety amid growing anxiety over possible ICE presence.
“It’s meant to be a joyful event,” Frank explained. “But when there’s widespread fear of deportation, it feels more ethical and responsible to pause the celebration this year.”
Frank added that many immigrants came to the United States in search of safety, opportunity, and a better future for their families—but that sense of security is now being undermined.
According to Daniel Altamirano Hernandez, executive advisor for policy and partnerships at the Latino Community Association, many individuals—some of whom are legal residents or have pending citizenship applications—now fear being racially profiled, detained, or deported without due process.
“It’s creating an environment where people are judged by their skin color or the language they speak, which doesn’t accurately reflect their immigration status,” Hernandez said.
“If we can’t offer a safe, authentic space to celebrate our culture, then we’re falling short of the true purpose of these festivals.”
Clarissa Martínez De Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS, said it’s understandable that communities are choosing to cancel cultural events in order to protect their safety.
She emphasized that the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement leaves many unsure whether the right to due process will be upheld before deportations occur.
UnidosUS is urging Latino Americans to know their constitutional rights and to stand united in the face of potential targeting by ICE.
De Castro also pointed out that roughly 80% of Latinos in the U.S. are legal residents or citizens.
“When the government takes sweeping actions that fail to differentiate between legal and undocumented individuals, it signals to the entire community that they’re under threat—something courts have already questioned as unlawful,” she said.
Juneteenth Celebrations Also Affected
It’s not only the Latino community rethinking public celebrations.
“They mistakenly labeled our celebration as a DEI initiative and didn’t want to risk losing their site access,” Johnson explained.
Although the staff called five days later to approve the event, by then Johnson had already booked a different venue.
The new venue secured by Reggie Johnson for his Juneteenth celebration is significantly smaller and may not be able to accommodate the usual crowd of 3,500 attendees, he said.
Festival organizer Norman Harris said the sudden drop in sponsorship came without clear reasons, coinciding with a broader trend of corporations scaling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives amid increasing political pressure from conservative groups.
Harris expressed deep disappointment at being forced to reduce the size of the festival, which has been a fixture in Denver since 2012 and typically draws about 30,000 attendees.
Generations before us have endured far greater challenges and learned to sustain themselves without relying on outside support.”