Since 2017, West Liberty’s Fiesta Latina event has grown to become one of the community’s biggest cultural events, celebrating the city’s Hispanic population while also inviting guests to learn about their culture through food, music, and more.
As important as the celebration is, the team behind the festival sees protecting this community as even more important. In light of the recent immigration policies by the Trump administration, the Latinos Unidos team has decided to take some extra precautions regarding this year’s festival.
Francisco Martinez, who was honored by the West Liberty City Council last December for overseeing and expanding Fiesta Latina throughout the years, said he and his team are still deciding whether or not to hold the festival this year.
“There have been a few changes because of the political environment,” Martinez said, as interpreted into English by his daughter. “We’re trying to see how we can do it. Based on how people are feeling right now, we just want to make sure people feel comfortable attending and people are still able to enjoy it.”
Martinez said he and his team will take at least two months to observe and see if anything changes in terms of both immigration policies and how safe or concerned people are feeling, and to see if immigration raids happen near or within the West Liberty community.
As for potentially cancelling the event, Martinez said, “I would feel sad, and I would feel bad because it is now a tradition. I feel like if it were to be cancelled, it’s kind of like failing to the community, so I’m really hoping that things can go back to normal so it can be done.”
But keeping his people and his community safe remains Martinez’s prime concern, he said, as he would never want to risk the joy of the festival turning into fear or tragedy.
“I know the community wants this event, and I’m pretty close with the community, so the thing is that we haven’t seen any immigration police presence yet in the community. But I know if they were to show up the day of the event, it would really affect me psychologically if anything were to happen, just because I know people in the community. That’s why we want to hold off on starting the planning,” he said.
To those who are still hoping for a Fiesta Latina 2025, Martinez assured it hasn’t been officially cancelled yet, firmly believing he and his team had the experience and resources needed to still put together a successful festival, even with a shortened planning schedule.
“We can make an event as successful as we’ve done it and plan it in three months, so we want to wait and see what’s going to happen, because our community comes first, and we want to make sure everyone feels comfortable there,” he said. “We’re going to wait a little bit, but we’re ready to work and we’re ready to make this happen if we think it’s something that will be appropriate to have.”
Martinez said though he knows some strong laws are coming from the Trump administration, resulting in a very unsure and “heavy” feeling environment especially within the Hispanic community, he also hopes there is still a way for people to find citizenship and protection.
“The families that are here are very hard working, they don’t do anything wrong. They’re family-oriented people, and they are all very good people. I just hope that there can be some type of law that helps those who are in the shadows come out and be in peace here in our community so that they don’t have to hide anymore,” he said.