Julia, a 19-year-old born in the US, and her parents, undocumented immigrants from Mexico, enjoyed attending the D\u00eda de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration each year in Henderson, Kentucky, and selling aguas frescas, horchatas and a sweet bread traditionally eaten on the Mexican holiday.<\/p>\n
Last year, her family also built an ofrenda, or altar, featuring flowers and a violin, to honor her grandfather, who played the instrument and died in 2023 in Mexico.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, organizers of the event in the town of 27,000 people canceled the party in 2025 because of concerns that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would use it as an opportunity to arrest undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe political climate around immigration was so difficult and controversial that we got a clear message from folks in the Latino community here\u201d that \u201cthey would not come\u201d, said Brad Schneider, the judge\/executive of Henderson county, who co-founded the event.<\/p>\n
This year, however, Henderson is among the US cities reviving public Day of the Dead celebrations after canceling last year. Meanwhile, some places that held events last year canceled because, in at least one case, of fears of ICE ramping up raids in their area.<\/p>\n
The decisions over whether to hold a public Day of the Dead celebration reveal that while in some parts of the country, ICE does not incite the same worries as a year ago, the agency\u2019s ongoing deportation efforts still unnerve many Latino immigrants across the US, and that is having a serious impact on community life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI trust in the leadership that we have in our community, and if they believe it\u2019s safe to have it, then I trust in that,\u201d said Julia, who is studying political science and secondary education in college.<\/p>\n
D\u00eda de los Muertos, which takes place over several days, dates back thousands of years to the Aztecs, who believed that death was just part of a larger cycle of existence<\/a>. The popular belief is that during the holiday, souls of the deceased can return to earth to be with their loved ones. As such, the living build ofrendas to welcome their spirits<\/a>.<\/p>\n Millions attend celebrations in Mexico. In the United States, cities like Los Angeles<\/a> and San Antonio<\/a> have held Day of the Dead celebrations that can attract tens of thousands of people.<\/p>\n Schneider grew up in Arizona and California and developed deep connections to Latino people, food and culture. Almost 40 years ago, he moved to Henderson. He has since watched as more Latinos moved to the area; they now comprise about 5% of the local population, according to the Census Bureau<\/a>.<\/p>\n After watching the 2015 James Bond film Spectre, which opens at a Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico City, Schneider asked Abraham Brown, owner of a Mexican restaurant in nearby Evansville, Indiana, whether they could hold such a celebration in Henderson.<\/p>\n Brown told him it was a great idea. In 2019, they held the inaugural event. The celebration has included mariachi bands, Mexican food, a faux graveyard where people decorate headstones, and face-painting.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a huge hit, much to our surprise,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n But in 2025, local Latinos were \u201creading the newspaper reports and media accounts, children were separated from adults, and that was all very scary for people\u201d, Schneider said.<\/p>\n This year, he and Brown again asked people at Mexican groceries and restaurants about holding a celebration, and \u201cthe overwhelming response was that they wanted it\u201d, Schneider said.<\/p>\n In Long Beach, California, the local government also decided to hold its festival after canceling last year because of concerns over immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that it\u2019s important to continue those traditions and be able to celebrate with family and friends, and so I wanted to give our city the opportunity to continue to do that,\u201d city council member Mary Zendejas, who requested that organizers cancel the event in 2025, told the Long Beach Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Worcester, Massachusetts, organizers canceled the city\u2019s celebration last year. Instead, they held smaller events and did not announce them on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cIt had to be at a private location where not anyone could walk in, that wasn\u2019t open to the general public, and we had to make sure that parking was close to the door, so people didn\u2019t have to walk really far to get to their car,\u201d said Raquel Castro, who runs the city\u2019s division of youth opportunities and co-founded Casita Cultura Latina, which organizes the city\u2019s D\u00eda de los Muertos celebration.<\/p>\n This year, they decided to again hold a public gathering on 24 October at a local park with a mariachi band, a DJ and art in honor of this year\u2019s theme, \u201cAmor como resiliencia\u201d, which means: \u201cLove as resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n About 2,000 people attended, Castro said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to exist and to still bring joy in dark times, and we thought it was really important to do so,\u201d said Castro, who immigrated from Ecuador, of why they held the party.<\/p>\n While some Latino residents have become more comfortable coming to public events, ICE has not gone anywhere. While the agency has avoided some of the negative publicity it generated during its operation in late 2025 and early 2026 in Minneapolis, its monthly arrests and detentions actually increased in June and July, according to the Deportation Data Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n In San Antonio, ICE recently signed leases worth $51m for two office spaces and is preparing to open a detention center that can house 1,500 people per day, the San Antonio Express-News<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Amid the effort to expand its footprint, a local retailer, Planet K, canceled its annual D\u00eda de los Muertos celebration, which it started holding 20 years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision was not made lightly,\u201d organizers posted<\/a> on Facebook. \u201cWe refuse to bring people together under Ice terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n Marina Alderete Gavito, a San Antonio city council member, particularly enjoyed the event\u2019s fireworks show and said it\u2019s \u201cjust really sad that we are seeing these traditions\u201d taken \u201caway from us\u201d.<\/p>\n Organizers also canceled Day of the Dead celebrations in Asbury Park<\/a>, New Jersey, and Fresno, California<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Guardian asked ICE\u2019s public affairs office whether the agency planned to send officers to Day of the Dead celebrations but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n