ICE Fears Force Pittsburgh to Pull the Plug on Immigrant Celebration
Festival’s abrupt cancellation underscores climate of fear as immigrant communities brace for surveillance, raids, and self-deportation pressure
WASHINGTON — What was once a celebration of global cultures, immigrant pride, and neighborhood resilience has now become a casualty of America’s shifting immigration climate.
On Friday, the City of Pittsburgh officially canceled its annual International Parade, Festival, and World Cup, originally scheduled for June 28. The announcement cited “potential harm” to immigrant participants as fears mount over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity targeting sanctuary cities.
“We cannot in good conscience carry out an event that has the potential to directly harm those who participate or exclude a portion of our immigrant residents,” read the statement on the city’s website.
Behind the careful language lies a more urgent reality: ICE is being felt in the streets, and the parade was seen as too dangerous to hold.
“It’s a painful loss for the community,” said Jaime Martinez, 23, community defense organizer with Casa San Jose. “But this cancellation wasn’t just about logistics. It was about fear. Trauma. The very real threat of raids.”
A City Under Watch
The cancellation comes just weeks after the Trump administration labeled Pittsburgh as one of 500 so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” — localities accused of obstructing immigration enforcement. Although the list was later removed after public pressure, immigration attorneys say the city remains under surveillance.
“You wouldn’t want to be an office of immigrant and refugee assistance and then throw a big party and have the government use it to arrest everybody that you’re supposed to be protecting,” said Joseph Murphy, an immigration lawyer who’s seen hotline traffic spike across the city’s immigrant support networks.
Murphy says ICE operations in Pittsburgh have taken on a disturbing tone: wellness checks carried out by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), not the Office of Refugee Resettlement; rumors of unmarked vehicles near schools; and reports of random questioning.
“[ICE arrests] are being conducted in ways that are unnecessarily fear inducing,” Murphy said. “I believe that’s the plan — to create an environment of fear where nobody knows which way is up... to encourage large numbers of people to self-deport.”
Mayor Gainey: “We Won’t Work with ICE”
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey has taken a defiant stance. In January, just days after the Trump administration imposed new arrest quotas on ICE officers, Gainey announced at the Pennsylvania Press Club: “My administration will not work with ICE. We will do whatever’s necessary to make our city more welcoming.”
Since then, immigrant families have walked a tightrope between local support and federal hostility. Saturday’s “No Kings” protest — which saw thousands march through downtown Pittsburgh — was just the latest in a wave of resistance to the Trump administration’s revived immigration agenda.
City Hall says the decision to cancel the parade was proactive, not reactive. But the timing tells a different story.
“This decision was made proactively, and not in response to any specific or active threats,” said Olga George, a spokesperson for the mayor. “The well-being of our community [was] at the forefront.”
But the whispers in community halls and shelters suggest otherwise.
“Some courts you’re seeing a lot of volume, a lot of constant surveillance, a lot of arrests happening,” Murphy said. “Some are seeing none. That uncertainty? That’s the point.”
When Celebration Becomes Risk
For many, the International Parade was more than just food trucks and flags — it was a safe space in a country growing more hostile to immigrants each day.
Now, it’s another reminder that no place is truly safe when immigration is weaponized.
“The fear isn’t imagined. It’s strategic,” said Martinez. “They want us to be afraid to gather, afraid to be visible, afraid to be joyful. Canceling the parade sends a message — not just to the community, but to ICE: we’re watching too.”