Moreno Valley To Move Forward With City Events Despite ICE Concerns

The Moreno Valley City Council Tuesday voted 4-1 to move forward with its events as planned for the remainder of the year despite concerns about potential unannounced immigration enforcement actions by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Now is not the time to capitulate and to cave in and put our head in the sand and perpetuate that fear that is emanating from D.C.,” Mayor Ulises Cabrera said. “If anything, now is the time to double down and express how proud we are of our diversity, of the various cultures that we have here in Moreno Valley represented by our constituents.”

City Manager Brian Mohan said he brought the item to the council in order to facilitate a conversation about the public safety concerns that arise with the potential presence of ICE or other federal law enforcement at the events.

“We did have some federal law enforcement activity in our city in July and with recent events in San Bernardino, I feel that it would be prudent and ethical for me to bring this to your attention just to have that conversation,” he said.

The city’s planned events include El Grito next month, a community day of service in October, the Day of the Dead and color run in November and a snow day and holiday tree lighting ceremony in December. 

Mayor Pro Tem Elena Baca-Santa Cruz, who voted against continuing to hold the events as planned, suggested that the council cancel at least the next few events and revisit the issue in the coming months.

“It breaks my heart to have to do this, but I think that in order to keep everybody safe, we need to postpone [El Grito] and think about it next year,” she said. “In fact, looking at these events — the Day of the Dead [and] the Color Fun Run — once we start promoting these, like we did the Fourth of July, I think we’re going to be asking for ICE to come out.”

Baca-Santa Cruz’s concerns were echoed by Linda Alarcon, a board member for the Moreno Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, who spoke during public comment.

“The truth of the matter is that these things are going on in our communities,” Alarcon said. “And I think, above all else, that we should lay low for a little bit [and] make sure that we keep our community members safe.”

The majority of those who spoke during public comment, however, were in support of holding the events and celebrations as previously planned, allowing people to make their own decisions about whether to attend.

It was a sentiment shared by Councilmember Cheylynda Barnard who said that while she understood the fear in the community, she did not want that fear to dictate the city’s decisions. Though she noted that those who choose to attend the city’s upcoming events should do so with a full understanding of the potential risks if federal agents were to show up.

“They have scooped up U.S. citizens, they have scooped up children, [and] they have taken folks that have been checking in at immigration hearings,” she said. “This government, as I have been telling you since January, is a grift and a lie, and I do not believe that they believe in [or] fully support the Constitution, because they are working their way toward expending and pushing every element of the Constitution, including what they’re doing in D.C., and trying to force us into a police state.”

For the remainder of the council, the importance of moving forward with the events as planned outweighed concerns of potential federal immigration enforcement actions.

“It would kill me to have someone taken away in that manner at an event we host, and we all agree, but look at the big picture,” Councilmember Ed Delgado said. “If we cancel anything, then we’re going to be almost complicit to what they want. They want fear, and they want us, the residents of Moreno Valley, to stay away, to hide.”

Moreno Valley, which is the second-largest city in Riverside County, has a population of roughly 214,000, more than 60% of whom are Hispanic or Latino, according to Census data. 

“We are a diverse, immigrant-safe community,” Councilmember Erlan Gonzales said. “We gotta show and stand up and make sure that we are going to be that shield, that buffer, against the darkness that’s right now prevailing in many communities.”

And while the council voted to move forward with the events as planned, Cabrera noted that the decision could come back for reconsideration as the situation continues to unfold.

“They passed the Big Beautiful Bill — the big beautiful betrayal as I call it — [and] gave a ton more funding to DHS and ICE,” he said. “We don’t know what the future has in store for us, and if we need to revisit this in six months [or] 12 months, then we can always do that, but right now, I don’t think it’s time to cancel anything.”