Jose Montoya and Brian Morales made the six-hour drive to Chicago from Columbus, Ohio, this week to attend Sueños Music Festival in Grant Park as they have every year since the event launched in 2022.
The couple generally come with six other friends, though this year they made the trip without them to see El Alfa and Shakira perform.
Why? Their friends, and many others in their community, feared the annual Latin music festival could be targeted by federal immigration enforcement.
“A lot of people didn’t come in because of it,” Montoya said. “They didn’t want to risk it, it’s too scary. … [But] I’m not giving up.”
They were among the thousands still showing up at the festival in light of fears of immigration raids, with the lines to enter extending from the fest’s entrance at Van Buren Street and Michigan Avenue around to Jackson and Columbus Drives before doors opened on Saturday.
As of Saturday, about 95% of the passes to the event were sold out, according to the website. The inaugural festival attracted more than 80,000 people over two days. Last year, more than 60,000 people attended each day of the two-day festival despite stormy weather forcing evacuations.
Festival organizers weren’t immediately available for comment.
As U.S. citizens, Montoya and Morales felt slightly safer, but they still had reservations given the arrests of American citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in recent months.
“We were the testers to come in here and test the atmosphere for our friends back home,” Montoya said. “I’m not giving up, I’ll fight for my people. Strength in numbers.”
It comes on the heels of the cancellation of Michelada Fest earlier this month, which had been planned for July 19-20 at Oakwood Beach. Organizers cited the “rapidly changing political climate,” as well as concerns about visas for international artists, among the reasons for the cancellation.
It follows a pattern of fear in the community that muted the usual celebrations for Cinco de Mayo in Little Village, leaving the main stretch of 26th Street without a parade or any other fanfare. It’s even led to hundreds of Chicagoans missing medical appointments.
It’s why Montoya said he and Morales wanted to avoid heavily Latino neighborhoods: “We’re not trying to get in some B.S., so what can you do?”
Jasmine Arciga, a lifelong Little Village resident, said her neighborhood had seen foot traffic drop off as people fear the worst in light of Chicago being an early target of immigration raids by the Trump administration.
Anxiety has grown in recent days as plainclothes ICE agents have been arresting immigrants outside immigration court hearings in Chicago and across the country.
Arciga said that although the muted Cinco de Mayo celebration was concerning, Mexican Independence Day in September — and its downtown car caravan — will be the true indication of whether enforcement fears are dampening spirits in the community.
“It was very noticeable; people were scared to go outside,” Arciga, 24, said. “But independence day will be the real test.”
Arciga said she wasn’t shocked by the fear either. In Facebook pages for Sueños, she’s seen posts from concerned attendees about the possibility of ICE showing up to the festival, but she never got any certain answers.
“I do think people are worried about it, especially with some of the artists not getting visas” for Michelada Fest, Arciga said.
At the festival, controversy has sprung up around President Donald Trump.
In February, a petition calling for Texas-based Mexican American group Grupo Frontera to be ousted from the festival circulated, garnering more than 10,000 signatures, over rumors the band was supportive of the president.
It followed a video posted by Grupo. Frontera vocalist Adelaido “Payo” Solís’ grandmother dancing like Trump does to the Village People’s song “YMCA” as well as a video by the band dancing to the same song; videos also were released showing members had liked Trump’s posts or were following him. The group is scheduled to play Sunday at 6:05 p.m. on the festival’s main stage.
But the festival’s healthy turnout gave some attendees hope.
Lupe Berrera, a 19-year-old who lives in Little Village, bought a Mexican flag from a vendor right outside the gates — and was far from alone, as many carried Colombian, Puerto Rican and Mexican flags over their shoulders.
The neighborhood she now calls home, after moving there from Brighton Park last year, has been a “ghost town.” But at Sueños, where people were proudly displaying their heritage as part of the weekend’s festivities, she said she was overcome with a “comforting feeling.”
“I’m really big with my culture. I like expressing it and where I come from,” Berrera said. So “it feels like I’m finally able to express something I haven’t been able to with everything going on. … It’s important to come together as a community and celebrate our roots.”