Local Latino community celebrates under "challenging" circumstances
Cville Sabroso is celebrating its 13th year, but this year it comes under the shadow of high-profile immigration crackdowns on the Latino community.
In 2024, over 4,000 people came downtown for Cville Sabroso, the local Latin American cultural festival now in its 13th year, and organizers are hoping this year’s September 20 celebration will be even bigger.
But they are also a little worried.
“For sure, the current climate is challenging for the Latino community," says Dan Doernberg, a board member and spokesperson for Sin Barreras / Without Barriers, an immigrant advocacy group, "and we're certainly watching developments carefully."
Recently, the Supreme Court gave federal agents the power to detain people in Los Angeles for speaking Spanish or appearing to be Latino, which critics of the ruling are calling legalized racial profiling. Last weekend, a Mexican Independence Day celebration in Chicago was muted by fears of immigration crackdowns, with parade-goers wearing bright orange whistles around their necks to sound the alarm if ICE agents appeared.
Doernberg says they aren't expecting any issues at the event, such as being targeted by immigration enforcement, but he says they've done some contingency planning.
“Our advocacy work will be ramping up, but in terms of Sabroso we’re mostly approaching it as festival as usual,” he says. "The more attendees come out for the festival the safer everyone is."
Back in January, after Trump took office, former Sin Barreras executive director Chris Padilla said that people in the immigrant community were feeling afraid.
“I think the message to Charlottesville,” Padilla told 29News, “is not to see the immigrants here in Charlottesville as statistics, but as vital members of the community.”
In April, two men were detained by plain-clothed and masked federal agents inside the Albemarle County Courthouse -- Teodoro Dominguez-Rodriguez, 41, a native of Honduras, and Pablo Aparicio-Marcelino, 32, a native of Mexico. The incident was caught on video and later led to protests outside the courthouse. Anonymous ICE officials threatened to prosecute those who filmed the incident. Later, FBI agents visited the homes of the attorney's representing the two men. Since then, no other high-profile raids in Charlottesville have been reported.
“What we're dealing with now, grabbing people like they did in Charlottesville, is downright scary,” John Whitehead, a constitutional attorney and founder of the Rutherford Institute, told the DTM. “All you have to do, especially if you're brown-skinned, and it's very racist in my opinion, is look the wrong way if there are ICE agents around…and you’re gone.”
On September 20, the local Latino community hopes to showcase its cultural heritage without incident.
"Sabroso started as Central Virginia’s Latino immigrants coming together to celebrate our diverse cultures during Hispanic Heritage Month," says Javier Raudales, Sin Barreras’ new executive director, in a release. "But over the years, it’s grown and changed significantly, becoming an important way for us to share our culture with the broader community."
Indeed, there’s an impressive line-up of events this year. There will be nine hours of music and dancing, including a performance by La Sonora Dinamita, the current incarnation of the famous Mexican musical group that helped popularize the now-mainstream Cumbia music genre. There will also be a greatly expanded free Kids' Zone, an adults-only Fiesta Bar serving Margaritas and Cuba Libres and beer, a beginner’s Bachata dance lesson, artisan crafts, and a wide variety of Latin American food. Visit the festival Facebook page for updates and ticketing information.