Carnaval de Puebla, an annual festival held in Philadelphia, dedicated to celebrating Mexican Culture and history has been cancelled this year.
As reported by CNN, on Tuesday, April 8, the organisers revealed the reason for the call off to be the fear of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence and their potential targeting.
Since President Donald Trump has taken the office for the second time in January 2025, ICE has been using all kind of methods to detain thousands of people, causing fear among immigrant community.
In 2024, Carnaval de Puebla witnessed around 15,000 spectators from across US and Mexico.
Olga Renteria, one of the organisers of the event shared that this year, the community "does not feel safe" attending a large gathering.
There is a panic in the community, people are afraid ICE is going to take them from crowd, regardless if they have legal status or are undocumented.
Renteria added, "We are not going to take a chance, everyone is being cautions, no celebrating, no big gatherings."
Prior to this, the festival was also cancelled in 2017, months after Trump first took office, when the organisers faced the same dilemma of security issue due o ICE.
Notably, the organisers are considering a smaller event for the community to celebrate the Mexican culture, however, details have not been disclosed yet.
