The Boyle Heights Christmas Parade, which last year featured artist Robert Vargas and East LA-born actor Edward James Olmos, has been canceled due to fears of immigration raids.
“It’s a small parade, but it was building up,” said organizer Tonie Juarez. “The last thing I need is for it to be raided by ICE.”
“We don’t want to be the ones to gather all these families and then have some of them taken away,” Juarez added.
This year would have marked the ninth year for the Boyle Heights Christmas Parade that features folklórico dancers, mariachi singers and school marching bands performing along 1st Street. Holiday-themed lowriders and Aztec dancers have been part of the celebration.
The Grinch makes his way through the 2024 Boyle Heights Christmas Parade in a lowrider. (Photo by Susan Sanchez/Boyle Heights Beat)
Juarez said she couldn’t fathom putting people at risk if federal immigration agents decided to conduct a raid in Boyle Heights on the day of the parade.
“To me, it was really sad having to answer the phone and say, ‘No, we’re not going to have it,’” she said.
But, it wasn’t just her who was hesitant about holding the parade.
Juarez said she and her team started organizing the parade in July, submitting applications for community groups and schools planning on participating. By October, they typically have 80 groups signed up to take part in the parade. This time around, they only had 30 willing to do it, she said.
She has also seen smaller crowds at other holiday parades she has attended this year. She noticed fewer people show up at the Día de Los Muertos block party on 1st Street.
“Nobody comes out right now,” she said.
For now, they plan on posting fliers announcing the parade’s cancellation.
“If God gives us life, we will be here next year and we’ll continue,” Juarez said.