Santa Cruz Oaxacan cultural celebration continues despite Trump immigration fears

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For the past 20 years, Senderos — a Santa Cruz-based nonprofit — has championed Indigenous customs through its annual guelaguetza, a community celebration of Oaxacan culture that recognizes the Mexican state’s diverse music, food and arts.

But this year’s guelaguetza almost didn’t happen, said Senderos co-founder Fe Silva-Robles. Community members raised their concerns with the nonprofit following President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Most worries focused on changes in immigration policies under the Trump administration and its promise to deport undocumented individuals, said executive director Isai Pazos. The guelaguetza attracts both undocumented and documented community members every year, and people were concerned the event might become a target for immigration officials. 

“There’s a lot of community members that don’t know exactly what’s really going on, because things are changing daily,” said Pazos. 

Pazos recalls that during the first Trump administration, the concern wasn’t as prominent as it is now. Not a lot of people took Trump’s deportation threats and changes to immigration policy as seriously, he said. What’s amplifying the fears now among the community — both documented and undocumented — are unverified reports spreading on social media of possible U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Santa Cruz County, Pazos told Lookout. 

So the organization turned to its board and community partners for guidance on whether the event should happen this weekend, Pazos said. Senderos and its board decided unanimously to continue on with the event, which is happening on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Branciforte Small Schools campus. In Oaxaca, the event takes place in July.

The decision to continue with this year’s guelaguetza circles back to the reason the organization started in the first place — to create a space for the Oaxacan community in Santa Cruz County and make the culture visible. If Senderos had decided to pause the event, the fate of future guelaguetzas could have been in jeopardy. 

“We decided to do it because if we hide right now, if we stop the celebration, that means we are going to stop for four years or more depending on how this administration is going to be like,” said Silva-Robles. 

Holding an event like the guelaguetza, said Silva-Robles, is a way to raise the community’s voice in an artistic way. It’s their way of saying, “Here we are. We are part of this state, proud of this beautiful country, and we are proud of who we are,” she said. 

The word guelaguetza means more than just a party celebrating Oaxacan culture, Silva-Robles said. In Zapotec — one of 16 Indigenous languages spoken in Oaxaca — the word means to share and help others without hesitation. 

“I think what we’re doing here is mutually helping each other go through this hard time. And I think that’s what symbolizes the reason why we decided to go forward with the guelaguetza,” Pazos said. 

Cultural spaces like the one Senderos is creating with its guelaguetza provide a perspective of hope and resilience to the community, said dance instructor Jenny Robles. It also provides a taste of home for people who might not be able to visit Oaxaca because of their legal status or other personal reasons, she said. 

Fe Silva-Robles co-founded Senderos in 2001 with her sister, Nereida Robles Vasquez, to create a space where Oaxacan students could build a community and take pride in their Indigenous roots, she said. 

Silva-Robles, who’s now retired, was a school community coordinator for the Santa Cruz City Schools district. She said she noticed students with Oaxacan roots or from the Mexican state experienced discrimination for the color of their skin and for not speaking Spanish or English. 

The organization had previously offered only dance classes to students ages K-12, she said. Over the years, it’s expanded to music classes, and even encouraged parents to join. The programs allow for the students and parents to connect with their Oaxacan roots, said Robles.  

Oaxaca has one of the highest Indigenous populations of any state in Mexico, and is home to 16 different Indigenous groups. In comparison to the rest of the country, Spanish isn’t always the first language learned, and a lot of people speak only their Indigenous language, such as Zapotec or Mixtec. 

One of Senderos’ main concerns before moving forward with this year’s guelaguetza was ensuring participants and attendees felt safe and comfortable, said Pazos. Silva-Robles said organizers have hired security, though there will not be any drastic changes to how the nonprofit organizes this year’s event to account for the increased immigration fears. But she acknowledged that it’s hard to dismiss the safety concerns completely. “The concern is going to be there 24 hours a day,” she said. 

Each year, Senderos invites 45 musicians, cooks, dancers and artisans from Oaxaca to join the festivities, said Pazos. All 45 individuals were able to enter the United States safely with authorized visas. It’s one of the only guelaguetzas in the state of California to invite and showcase the talents of Oaxacan people, said Silva-Robles. 

Bringing in the musicians, dancers and cooks makes the experience more unique, Pazos said – there’s a different feeling people will get from listening to traditional music from Oaxaca performed by native people, compared to a band from Santa Cruz playing the same music. 

“Dance unites us,” said Robles. What’s also special about this guelaguetza is that the dancers from Oaxaca and Santa Cruz are collaborating for a few performances on Sunday, she said. 

The partnership between the two groups showcases the essence of guelaguetza, said Robles. In rehearsal earlier this week at Branciforte Smalls Schools’ auditorium, the group of dancers exchanged performance attire and learned from each other as they practiced alongside the Oaxacan musicians. 

Musician Victor Reyes Francisco, who traveled to Santa Cruz from Mexico, said he’s proud and excited to bring a little bit of Oaxaca to Santa Cruz this weekend. The musicians will primarily be performing songs typically played by bandas de viento — bands that primarily use saxophones, clarinets, trumpets and percussion instruments, and take a bit of inspiration from polka music. 

Before Sunday’s big celebration, Senderos is hosting a “Music and Mole” event Thursday at Branciforte Small Schools starting at 6 p.m., where the community can get a taste of mole made by Oaxacan chefs and enjoy music from Reyes Francisco and others, said Pazos. The group also held a procession on Wednesday night in downtown Santa Cruz to kick off the festivities. 

“We invite the community to enjoy the music, learn about our food and enjoy all the activities on Sunday,” Reyes Francisco said. “Oaxaca has amazing culture, and we’re proud to bring some of that to Santa Cruz.” 

Senderos’ 20th guelaguetza will be held on Sunday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Branciforte Small Schools campus, 840 N. Branciforte Ave., Santa Cruz. Admission is $10, and children under 5 are free. 

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