The city of Long Beach will not put on its annual Día de los Muertos parade this year “out of an abundance of caution” after officials say they heard “genuine fears raised by community members” about federal immigration enforcement in the region.
The city is “not aware of federal enforcement activity targeting the parade, a large and very public event,” but decided to cancel it at the request of First District Councilmember Mary Zendejas, city spokesperson Jen De Prez wrote in an email.
The decision comes after months of immigration raids across Southern California, during which several thousand people have been arrested or detained by federal agents.
Civil rights groups and activists allege many of the stops are indiscriminate or based on profiling, including raids at Long Beach car washes.
A federal judge and an appeals panel recently agreed, barring officials from conducting “roving patrols” that the court found were targeting people based solely on their perceived ethnicity, language, location or type of work they were performing, but last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that sided with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reversing the lower court and clearing the way for operations to resume.
Long Beach’s vibrant Día de los Muertos parade typically draws hundreds of visitors to downtown, with dozens of floats, folklórico ensembles and mariachi bands traveling along Pine Avenue to celebrate Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition that involves people paying respects to their deceased friends and family members.
This year’s parade would have marked the 10th in Long Beach. The Arte y Ofrendas Festival at Rainbow Lagoon Park, a two-day, separate ticketed event organized by an outside vendor, will also not take place this year.
Roberto Carlos Lemus, the marketer for last year’s festival and cofounder of Latino Restaurant Week in Long Beach, said the decision to cancel was “unfortunate.”
But, he said, “I get why they’re doing it.”
While organizing next week’s kick-off event for Latino Restaurant Week, Carlos Lemus said he had to take extra precautions himself.
He ultimately decided to hold it at a private venue “because it’s easier to control who comes in and who goes out,” Carlos Lemus said.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the Long Beach City Council approved a motion from Mayor Rex Richardson to push the funding for this year’s parade to next year, making $100,000 available for the 2026 event.
At the same meeting, the City Council approved a $1.85 million budget for the Long Beach Justice Fund, which provides legal representation to residents facing immigration cases.
“The city deeply values the vibrant cultural diversity of its community and is looking forward to continuing our Día de los Muertos Parade next year,” De Prez wrote.
Carlos Lemus said he hopes the 2026 event “is a lot bigger” than the one in 2024.