Editor’s note: The number of times Ministry with Mexico travels to Mexico was updated to reflect more accurate information after receiving clarification.
As the end of Hispanic Heritage Month approaches, some members of Point Loma Nazarene University’s community said events across the nation meant to celebrate the month were avoided or canceled out of fear. President Donald Trump’s reelection in November 2024 brought stricter immigration laws, causing celebrations to take more precautions.
Hispanic Heritage Month, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, celebrates Hispanic culture and the contributions of the Hispanic community in the United States, according to the National Museum of the American Latino.
The month is normally celebrated with multiple events such as concerts and art and historical exhibitions. Scott Bennett, PLNU professor of Spanish, said that this year, many events both in San Diego and across the United States were canceled out of fear.
“I know that Bad Bunny (who did a 30-concert residency in Puerto Rico these past few months) specifically chose not to do concerts in the U.S. because he feared that ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] would raid his concerts,” Bennett said in an email interview.
According to HIAS, ICE in recent months has been carrying out targeted enforcement actions against immigrants, most commonly in workplaces and residential areas. These targeted, enforced actions have largely occurred in California and Washington. This is commonly referred to as ICE raids, which are allowed under the Trump administration.
“It is hard to celebrate anything if you are being terrorized and are living in fear of having your family separated from you,” Bennett said. “It’s that bad.”
Sydney Armstrong, a third-year political science major and president of PLNU’s Association of Latin American Students (ALAS), said that she has noticed more people have opted to stay inside this month in California.
“There’s a bunch of Hispanic Heritage Months I can think of that are already scrapped, canceled,” Armstrong said in a Zoom interview. “People are just afraid of being together publicly.”
Armstrong said her brother was going to attend a two-day festival, El Grito, for Hispanic Heritage Month in Chicago. The event was postponed after its coordinators announced that the community’s safety was at risk by attending such a large gathering.
She also said she has noticed that people are taking more precautions to ensure safety and reduce the chances of raids.
“You just think about the fear of arrests and like uncertainty in places that were meant to be safe, like churches and schools,” Armstrong said. “It’s just having a smaller celebration. I mean, that could be a situation of life or death. It could be a situation of, ‘Am I going to be back and see my family for dinner?’”
Armstrong said that PLNU can support Hispanic students on campus by having a “healthy environment for discussion,” not debate.
While Armstrong said she has never participated in a debate on campus, fellow peers have expressed to her feeling unsafe and that posts or comments made by other students regarding the Hispanic community feel like a “stab in the back.”
“We’re not looking for a debate, you know, we just, we sometimes just need a good hug, and you need to just listen, and this person’s venting,” Armstrong said. “And sometimes, when you vent about what has been going on with the ICE raids and Hispanic Heritage Month and everything, it turns into a debate, which I don’t believe it should be.”
However, other students are still finding ways to celebrate.
Julissa Nunez, a PLNU first-year theology justice and peace major, said that she celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month by attending a salsa dance club.
“It was really fun,” Nunez said. “So I was talking to my hall about it, and I think we might go [again], and it might just be interesting and kind of exposed to different cultures, too, that they can know about.”
Nunez said that while she hasn’t been keeping up with the news, she is disheartened every time she reads about ICE raids.
Paula Cronovich, PLNU professor of Spanish, said that there is still a way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month amid fear.
“There are these raids that do produce a lot of anxiety, a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear,” Cronovich said. “But I don’t think that dampens the Mexican spirit. I don’t think that gets in the way of celebrating a beautiful culture that is a lot longer in tradition than our current state of affairs.”
Cronovich said that with PLNU being a Christian university, Christianity teaches the principle of loving one’s neighbors. Cronovich said that since Mexico is San Diego’s neighbor, love should extend out to Mexico.
PLNU is about 23 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. A short enough distance away that PLNU’s Ministry with Mexico organization can make the trip about four to five times a month to support those in need.
“Just letting students know that we see them, that we celebrate them, that we are not a place that discriminates against anyone based on what they look like or what language their abuela [grandma] might speak, or their parents or their uncle or whatever else,” Cronovich said, “but that we are an open, loving place that loves our neighbor because we are a Christian university.”
Sydney Brammer 
Olivia Roberts