Desert Hot Springs dance cancelled out of immigration enforcement fears
Athena Jreij
DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) — A Father’s Day dance planned for this month was cancelled by organizers due to fears over potential immigration enforcement.
According to organizers with the Mujeres Latinas Club, the fear of local ICE and CBP operations have kept dozens of families from leaving their homes.
“We have parents that send us messages that they are not going to be able to attend. They don’t want to go out of their house,” Jane Lescure, the club’s president said.
While their priority is keeping families safe, organizers say events like the dance provide funding for college scholarships. By selling donated food at the free events, they average $10,000 each year towards scholarships.
They worry if this fear continues, that money could be in jeopardy.
“Coming from a low-income family, this money has taken stress off of my parents,” said one student.
“This scholarship actually helped me get my first laptop, and I was actually already been able to use it for my summer online classes.”
Lescure says the club has given away $20,000 in scholarships since it’s founding in 2023, and that the cancelling of this dance lost them nearly $3,000.
Now, they worry the impact these cancellations could have on future scholarships, with the club’s founder saying enforcement fears have negatively impacted students.
For those students who rely on the money, these fears have been an economic and community struggle.
“As a family, we don’t get too much time together. So whenever there’s events that are held it’s like an opportunity for us as a family to go out together, dress up, spend time together,” one student said.
For more information on the Mujeres Latinas Club de DHS, visit Club de Mujeres Latinas de DHS