Long Beach Cancels Día de los Muertos Parade over ICE Fears

The City of Long Beach near Los Angeles, California, has canceled its annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) parade over fears that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) might target the outdoor event.

The Los Angeles Times reported:

Even though the city is not aware of federal enforcement activity targeting the parade, the decision was made “out of an abundance of caution” because it’s “a large and very public outdoor event,” said Long Beach spokesperson Kevin Lee.

Long Beach City Councilmember Mary Zendejas had requested the cancellation, Lee said.

“This decision did not come lightly,” both Zendejas and the city said in statements. The decision addresses “genuine fears raised by community members, especially those who may face the possibility of sudden and indiscriminate federal enforcement actions that undermine the sense of security necessary to participate fully in public life.”

Since President Donald Trump took office, and allowed ICE to enforce federal immigration law, there have been stories — some real, many apocryphal — of ICE agents arresting illegal aliens in public places.

In the spring, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom both spread fake stories that ICE was targeting school graduations. The fake news suits their purpose of rallying Democrats behind them, and demonizing the Trump administration. While the Trump administration has pushed back on fake news, the fear manufactured by Democratic politicians also encourages illegal aliens to self-deport.

ICE claims that it targets illegal aliens with criminal records or who are engaged in criminal activity, and that it is not prioritizing people who are simply in the country illegally, though they are also subject to arrest.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.