The mood was muy festivo in Southwest Detroit on Sunday, May 3, as thousands of people piled into the neighborhood for an early Cinco de Mayo celebration.
Unlike last year, when crowds were light amid inclement weather and nervousness about immigration enforcement, the masses gathered for the annual parade along Vernor Highway appeared back at full strength.
Across Southwest Detroit, well beyond the main activities, vehicles were festooned with Mexican flags and families strolled the sidewalks in the country’s national soccer team shirts and other tricolor apparel.
But the energy was amplified along the 2½-mile parade route. The scene was especially lively just before noon outside Patton Park, where officials directed the colorful flotilla of vehicles, marching bands and decorative displays to make their way down Vernor.
Many participants, spectators and community leaders who spoke with the Free Press said that while worry of heavy-handed immigration enforcement remains, it was largely shoved back of mind for the sake of Sunday’s festivities.
They included parade grand marshal Jesse Gonzales Sr., a Southwest Detroit community fixture and longtime parade volunteer. Unlike some other major U.S. cities, Detroit has not been a heavy ICE target, he said.
Gonzales, who led a procession of gleaming green, white and red Corvettes, was proud to take on the grand marshal role following a health issue that had kept him away from recent parades.
“It’s a great honor,” he said. “For me to be here — it’s a real blessing.”
Among those sounding a cautious note was Micheline Silva, secretary for MANA de Metro Detroit, an advocacy and development group for Latin women. She said community representatives had met with law enforcement ahead of Sunday, seeking no interference with the Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
“We have to persevere through the fear,” Silva said. “Hopefully they’ll have respect for what the community has asked.”
There were no obvious signs of an ICE presence along and near Vernor.
At midafternoon Sunday, an officer with the Detroit Police Department said the parade had gone off without incident.
Cinco de Mayo, which marks the Mexican Army’s triumph over France in 1862’s Battle of Puebla, was popularized among Mexican-Americans before crossing into the mainstream in recent decades.
As spectators gathered on Vernor’s sidewalks, every block was teeming with music: traditional Mexican fare, classic Tejano pop like Selana, modern stuff like Bad Bunny and J. Balvin.
On the other end of the two-hour parade route near Clark Park, entrepreneur Denisse Lopez was cheerful following the glum spirit that hung over 2025’s Cinco de Mayo events.
“It’s so much better this year,” said Lopez, owner of Vamanos, a health-focused eatery and creative center. “I feel safe. I feel like we’re doing good.”
Crowds were anticipated to continue swelling throughout the day as people from across metro Detroit descended onto the area for what’s become one of America’s unofficial party holidays.
And they were expected to be back in full force in 48 hours — May 5, the actual Cinco de Mayo — for another round of merrymaking.
“Tuesday will be nuts too,” Lopez said.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cinco de Mayo comes to life in Detroit as ICE fears take a back seat
Reporting by Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
