Amid fears over escalated immigration enforcement, Washington County nonprofit Centro Cultural has decided to transition its annual El Grito celebration of Mexican Independence to an online-only event this year.

El Grito, or “the cry,” commemorates the moment Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a priest in the town of Dolores, Mexico, rang the church bell on the morning of Sept. 16, 1810, calling the Mexican people to fight for independence against the Spanish. El Grito is now celebrated by Mexican communities across the globe each September.

On Wednesday, Centro Cultural announced it would broadcast this year’s El Grito celebration on its social media channels at 8 p.m. Sept. 15.

“We do not ignore the pain that millions of families across the country go through, nor do we normalize attacks that seek to divide or weaken us,” the organization wrote. “On the contrary: Each wound reminds us of the urgency of staying together and strong. We celebrate because every tradition is an act of resistance, because every community gathering is an affirmation that we are here, we are still standing, and we are not giving up.”

The decision comes as President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up its fight with sanctuary jurisdictions, like the city of Hillsboro. At this point, Trump hasn’t specifically called out Hillsboro, a city of about 110,000 people, in his opposition to sanctuary jurisdictions, but the president has indicated he wants to punish larger sanctuary jurisdictions like Portland and the state of Oregon.

Sanctuary states and cities bar their local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts. The White House, meanwhile, is seeking to deport millions of immigrants from the country. Immigration arrests have skyrocketed since he took office in January.

According to data from the Deportation Data Project, arrests under the Seattle Field Office, which covers Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, ICE agents have apprehended more people in the first seven months of 2025 than in all of 2024.

El Grito is not the first Oregon cultural celebration to cancel its in-person events in response to fears of immigration enforcement. Earlier this year, organizers canceled Madras’ Latino Fest, Bend’s Juneteenth celebration and Central Oregon Community College’s LatinX Fiesta due to safety concerns.

Still, recent events like the Latino Cultural Festival and La Guelaguetza, both in Hillsboro, have gone ahead.

In years past, Centro Cultural has hosted El Grito in Hillsboro’s Shute Park with music and dancing, a car show, food and local art.

Earlier this year, Hillsboro City Councilor Olivia Alcaire wrote on social media that she did not want to see large, city-sponsored gatherings of immigrant communities, citing the risk of detainment by immigration enforcement.

Alcaire told OPB that though the city was not involved with Centro Cultural’s decision to move El Grito online, she did support the move.

“I don’t want people to go into hiding. People need to be aware of their rights and their responsibilities and their constitutional rights,” Alcaire said. “I don’t want to support something where somebody could get detained.”

Centro Cultural did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Other El Grito celebrations in the region, such as El Grito PDX at the Rose Quarter, are going forward.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/29/hillsboro-el-grito-celebration-moves-online-immigration-enforcement/