During Hispanic Heritage Month, ICE will not intimidate Sacramento | Opinion

Just days after attending the rededication of the Japanese American War Memorial Museum — a solemn reminder of how fear once drove our government to imprison its own citizens — I watched another community celebration fall silent.

Citing fears of immigration raids, Sacramento’s Mexican Cultural Center abruptly canceled its 50-year-old “El Grito” celebration of Mexican Independence, an event that typically draws over 7,000 people. They did this in silence — without consulting any organizations that actively defend and work with immigrants, or any civic partners.

In that moment, fear claimed a victory; not over individuals, but over our shared community.

Fear is creeping into our community, threatening to silence our voices and erase our culture. But we cannot let that happen.

Under the Trump administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deliberately sown fear by deploying masked agents, staging surprise raids and targeting people (including U.S. citizens) in isolated settings. The goal is not merely enforcement, it’s intimidation, designed to drive immigrant communities out of public life to disappear into the shadows.

Canceling community-driven cultural events plays right into their hands and gives them an unearned victory.

We’ve seen where that road leads: The Japanese American community knows it all too well. They continue to shine a light on past government abuses — not to reopen old wounds, but to make sure history is never repeated. They remind us how quickly constitutional rights crumble when fear is allowed to rule.

We must heed that lesson now.

National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15, was established to honor the contributions of the Latino community and recognize the historic fight against tyranny and oppression. It aligns with the independence celebrations of Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala from the tyranny of the Spanish monarchy. These movements sought to end oppression and slavery, and to stop the indiscriminate detainment of people without due process.

This month is not just a time to celebrate our culture with art, music and food, it is a time to remember and honor the fight against tyranny. This is a time to be proud of our diversity, culture and language.

Our multicultural traditions are not side notes in our history, they are its foundation: California’s first constitution was written in Spanish by the Californios before being translated into English. Diversity is part of this state’s DNA.

Now, as we move into Hispanic Heritage Month, fear is being used to pressure us to hide who we are: to speak only English, to avoid cultural dress and to stay home instead of gathering and celebrating together. The fight against the monarchy was a fight to abolish caste systems. Yet this administration has created a modern version, allowing ICE agents to use language, accents, location and appearance as justification to arrest and detain individuals without a warrant. This is not just an attack on immigrants, it’s an attack on the constitutional rights of us all.

This is why we can’t retreat. We must gather and celebrate. Especially if we are citizens, we must show up to stand with our immigrant and refugee neighbors. It is a time to celebrate our multicultural traditions and stand proudly in our heritage.

History shows that when we unite, speak out and act with purpose, we succeed in confronting injustice and advancing equality. Our Constitution is in jeopardy. If we cower in fear now, we all risk losing the very rights this country was built upon.

We must continue our strong community traditions, encourage deeper engagement and support our many cultures — from our immigrant and refugee communities to the original peoples of this land — that form the bedrock of Sacramento. Let’s ensure that next year, and every year, “El Grito” is heard loud and clear across our city.

Sacramento Mayor Pro Tem Eric Guerra represents District 6.