Santa Barbara’s longstanding Eastside Milpas Street Holiday Parade has been canceled due to fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. This is following similar trends in Santa Barbara, in October the Museum of Contemporary Art canceled its Día De los Muertos parade due to ICE concerns as well.
As of late October, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has deported 527,000 people. ICE remains a constant presence and fear in migrant communities. According to a KCLU report, around 10% of Santa Barbara County’s residents are estimated to be undocumented. The Ventura County Star estimates that roughly 40% of U.S.-born Hispanic children in the county live with undocumented parents. California Lutheran University reports 71% of undocumented migrants in the county have lived in the United States for over 10 years. Families with established lives in the U.S. remain at risk of forcible deportation in our community.
Santa Barbara High School’s (SBHS) Band, Cheer, and Donettes dance team were all planning to perform at the parade. This would have been the parade’s 71st run. SBHS’s involvement in the community tradition has spanned decades. Pablo G. Villagomez Taboado, Captain of the Donnettes, comments on why school spirit in local events is so important, “.. we all show up and show out and show what the spirit is at SBHS… There’s a lot of things here in the community that people don’t know about, about the schools and about what we offer. And I know, me being a student, I wish other kids knew, the opportunities that are offered here….that students are here to engage…. and share with the community.” Taboado shares in the similar local sentiment of being “bummed” over the parade’s cancellation, but cites understanding of the decision due to the need to protect their peers and keep the community safe. Taboado elaborates on the presence of ICE in Santa Barbara, “I feel like it’s something that we should be concerned about. I’ve seen so many distraught families and it’s so sad to think about…I feel like we’re just a community of happy people just wanting to do our own thing and it’s just being ruined by people who have this opposite feeling of who we are.”
The community shares in the feeling of not allowing ICE to break Santa Barbara’s festive spirit. Tabaodo says, “just ’cause we couldn’t celebrate as a community, we celebrate it with our families and just enjoying the moments that we have. I feel being with our family is like the most important thing we have and just share within each other. And even to strangers too. You might even be like, “Happy Holidays” on the street. Just share with everyone as much as you can…It will be over soon. I have faith.”
