Fiesta Evansville drew 8,000 people in 2024. The Latino Resource Day has been held in past years to connect Latinos to a variety of services — educational, legal and employment opportunities with companies like Berry Global.
As helpful as such events are to the Latino, and immigrant community, both are likely cancelled.
This is due to the climate created under this Trump administration and the campaign by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.)
Specifically, the concern is over possible arrests, leading to deportations by ICE. As of late July, there were nearly 57,000 migrants in detention in the US. There were just over 36,000 in detention the same time in 2024. This is according to TRAC reports.
Ely Sena-Martin is executive director of the Immigrant Welcome and Resource Center in Evansville. She said gatherings of Latinos are now discouraged, and so are young students and professionals from studying here.
“I'm watching this incoming class of international students, and I think if I were in their shoes, I'd be looking at Canada or the UK,” she said. “Because, do I want my visa revoked in the middle of my program after all the blood, sweat and tears right before graduation?' — which we saw happen in May.”
She said a metaphorical sign that reads “you are not welcome here” is bright and shining. “I think that is how it feels for immigrants and new Americans,” she said.
In normal times, she said as a staff of two, her day-to-day responsibilities would include implementing their programs like cultural competency trainings the community.
"I might be supporting our case manager if several families show up at the same time and getting information from families, helping them connect to resources,” she said.
But in watching the news of ICE expansion, she knew her job was going to change, and their services were going to change.
She was surprised how important discussing rights under the Constitution became, especially concerning birthright citizenship.
“Just raising awareness about human rights in the United States based on the Constitution was, for sure, not something we had planned last year, and that becomes infused in a lot of the things we do, in the conversations we've had.”
Other new developments include helping the children of migrants to understand current events, and their place in them.
“How to make sense of what they're hearing adults talking about, or other children who are saying, ‘Oh, we're going to call ice to deport you and go back where you belong.’”
Another unexpected part of her job is how personal it has become. As a naturalized US citizen with family in the Dominican Republic, Sena-Martin doesn’t feel safe traveling.
Neither do her parents — who miss and want to see their grandchildren in the US.
“Now part of my role is actually saying, 'it is people like me who are being stopped at airports, who are naturalized citizens, who are spending five hours being interrogated, not being allowed to talk to a lawyer,' like when I share about these changes, there are changes that impact my life directly in a different way, perhaps, than before, and that helps me relate to families.”
Again, Fiesta Evansville is "probably cancelled" in 2025, confirmed by organizer Abraham Brown. He didn’t wish to elaborate, but Sena-Martin attributes losing events to the atmosphere of fear brought by ICE.
She also expects reduced foreign talent entering the US.
“Those voluntary immigrants who come here for work, for study, and who have been paying taxes and doing great things and helping move the economy are probably going to self-select to go elsewhere,” she said. “Sure, and that is detrimental to the future growth and prosperity of a country we're all calling ours now. So that is troublesome.”
Also troubling are the cancellation of temporary protected status of migrants from specific nations.
Sena-Martin said when such policies are allowed to expire, it creates a new group of people who are suddenly “undocumented.”
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