Santa Barbara’s longtime Milpas Street Holiday Parade will not take place this year after organizers said many Eastside families and participants expressed fear about attending a large public event due to concerns of potential immigration-enforcement activity in the region.
The Santa Barbara Eastside Society announced the decision Tuesday, saying it came “after many weeks of listening” to families, volunteers, local leaders and immigrant-rights partners who described a heightened sense of vulnerability.
“Although ICE raids may no longer dominate daily headlines, the threat to our Latino families, documented or undocumented, remains very real,” the group said in a written statement. “The presence of immigration enforcement in our region, the fear it generates, and the uncertainty families continue to face are real, immediate, and deeply felt.”…