Mario Perez cheered from the curb as dancers in bright dresses twirled down the street Saturday afternoon, ribbons and ruffles flashing in the sun. Amid the spectacle, he almost didn’t see the face peering down from an apartment window above.

“They’re still afraid to celebrate,” said Perez, 54. “People want to come out, but they’re fearful they’re going to get arrested.

Perez was one of many immigrants who flocked to Pilsen for the neighborhood’s 25th annual Mexican Independence Day Parade, a tradition that fills 18th Street with vintage cars, folk dancers and lively musicians on their way to Harrison Park. The festivities have become a staple for the historic Latino neighborhood, a community where Mexican American culture is evident in restaurants, shops and murals that line the route.

But locals said they couldn’t help but notice the noticeably thinner crowd, echoing last year’s parade, which came as the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Midway Blitz,  a 64-day immigration enforcement surge across Chicago and suburbs. From a bench outside an ornate antique shop, Edwin Barrera said the mood on Saturday felt eerily similar to it did when the Trump administration was threatening to send federal agents into Chicago.

“Usually, there would already be chairs out and people sitting around,” said Barrera, 50, who has lived in Pilsen for two decades. “But I guess it’s not surprising that a lot of people are not here.”

Though El Grito, a downtown Mexican Independence Day festival, was postponed last year amid threats of increased immigration enforcement, organizers of the 2025 Pilsen parade chose to move forward as planned. Afterward, Vicky Lugo, secretary of the United Merchants of Pilsen Chamber of Commerce, told the Tribune there had been no incidents or reports of federal immigration agents at the event.

But that wasn’t how some locals remembered the day. One of them, Ramon Lopez, 61, watched a group of dancers from the doorway of his apartment Saturday afternoon. A lifelong Pilsen resident, Lopez has attended the celebration since its earliest years.

He pointed to an intersection just feet from his front stoop, where he said immigration agents wearing full body armor and carrying large guns stationed themselves during last year’s parade. This year, he said, they were nowhere to be seen.

“It’s more comfortable now,” said Lopez. “You see police officers, but you don’t see ICE.”

But some of his neighbors told him they planned to stay home Saturday, fearful that federal agents might be mingling undercover among the crowd. Though the surge from the blitz ended, immigration enforcement arrests have continued over the past year.

Esmeralda Velasco said some residents remain afraid even to drop off their children at school.

Velasco said her social media feeds have been filled with community sightings of ICE activity across Chicago, especially on the Northwest and Southwest sides. Videos of federal agents detaining people during traffic stops and outside courthouses have circulated since June, the Tribune reported, alarming immigrant communities and prompting concern from elected officials.

“We’re still standing up for them,” Velasco, 42, said of neighbors who were afraid to attend the parade. “We’re their voice, even though they’re not able to be here.”

Those lingering fears, Velasco said, made it all the more important for her to show up and celebrate her culture. Mexican Independence Day is observed each year on Sept. 16. She hoped Mexican American Chicagoans who stayed home would see photos and videos of the parade on social media and know their community is still proud.

She and her friends laughed and pointed as a toddler trotted past on a miniature horse barely taller than its young rider. Three hairless Xoloitzcuintles, a breed considered to be Mexico’s national dog, followed close behind.

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Alonzo Sotelo, 4, rides a pony with grownups on horses while marching in the 25th annual Pilsen Mexican Independence Day Parade on West 18th Street, Sept. 5, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

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The animals entertained children along the route, including Liliana Baiman’s son, who watched the procession with fascination. The family recently moved to Pilsen from Ohio, where Baiman said there were far fewer opportunities for her son to experience his Mexican culture.

“We don’t get to see this where we’re from,” said Baiman, 40. “We’re actually in a neighborhood where people look like me, and that feels really nice.”

Baiman said residents of Pilsen, like those of many neighborhoods across the city, have established an online watch group to alert one another of potential ICE activity. The network has helped some locals feel safer, Baiman said, though others still aren’t ready to return to public gatherings like the parade.

“Everywhere got hit pretty hard, but people are realizing that this is going to be an ongoing thing,” she said. “So we have to figure out how we’re going to continue to support one another.”

Still, Saturday’s celebration drew attendees that spanned generations, with older spectators waving Mexican flags from wheelchairs along the route. Benjamin Raya bounced a baby on his lap as an ensemble of drummers passed, the group briefly capturing the attention of his three other young children.

The music is his favorite part of the parade, said Raya, who immigrated from Mexico when he was a teenager. When he closes his eyes all these years later, he said, he almost forgets where he is.

“This lets me go back to my country,” said Raya, 29. “It makes me feel like I’m home.”