Latin music is not only popular – it’s big business. But the artists who create it are facing cancellations of their live performances as the Trump administration denies or revokes visas as part of its immigration crackdown efforts.
“The whole industry of Spanish-dominant music and entertainment is hurting, said David Chavez, producer of the Tejano Takeover Festival in Las Vegas, an event that’s been happening for more than 20 years.
Chavez said Spanish language performers’ visas are being revoked, denied or put on “administrative review.” That includes top-selling global artists like Julion Alvarez and Peso Pluma, who was the most-streamed artist on YouTube in 2023, beating out the likes of Taylor Swift.
Los Alegres del Barranco were scheduled to perform at more than a dozen concerts in the U.S., including the 7th annual Michelada Festival in Chicago this summer. Last year, the two-day festival averaged 10,000 attendees each day.
After Los Alegres del Barranco’s visas were revoked, the producers hired another popular band, Grupo Firme, also scheduled to headline several festivals across the country. That was until their visas were placed “under administrative review.”
The 2025 Michelada festival was canceled just weeks before its July opening.
“This cancellation has cost us millions of dollars,” festival co-owners Fernando Nieto and Miguel Torres said.
“It affects local talent, local artists, it affects independent contractor companies, it affects our team members, it affects restaurants, small businesses. There’s a massive ripple effect.”
In the tourism-dependent Las Vegas, a slump in tourism is having an economic impact. Visitors have dropped by 12%, according to the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority’s latest data on the $55 billion entertainment industry, comparing this July with the previous year.
September in Las Vegas is a time when many high-profile Latino performers are booked for Fiestas Patrias. Last September there were nearly 3.5 million tourists, according to data from LVCVA, with almost 2 million coming from Mexico. That makes Mexican tourists the second largest category of international visitors, behind Canadians. The numbers for both remain below the previous year.
There’s also what these producers say is a cultural loss.
“We feel this administration is targeting our community,” said Torres.
In 2023, the Latin music industry generated nearly $1.5 billion dollars, according to the Recording Industry of America. Mexican regional music – a folk style similar to American country music – is one of the most popular Spanish-language genres.
Also taking a hit is the Tejano genre, sometimes referred to as Tex-Mex music. Their fans are predominantly bilingual Americans.
“It's very racist. I mean, very racist,” said talent agent Joey Rodriguez, who was representing the group “Los Musicales” at the Tejano Takeover event in Las Vegas this summer.
“ICE is showing up to the Tejano events … they don't understand the difference between Tejanos and Mexicanos.”
The possibility of ICE raids were a point of discussion between the venue and the producers of the Tejano Takeover festival.
“(The venue asked us) ‘Do you really want us to draw attention that you're going to be having a big Hispanic event?’” Chavez said during the festival’s run in July. “We said, of course…I want to do it more now than ever. ‘Cause we have to stand up. So yes, you’re going to see 40-50 foot billboards that say Tejano Takeover!”
Chavez said he was told the venue had the right to not allow ICE on its premises because it is private property.
But outside the property, arrests could happen.
Festival producers say the fear factor is having a harmful impact but the shows still generate significant revenue.
“They're making millions off of us,” Chavz said. Not just at these festivals but as an integral part of the country’s economic engine, he explained.
In response to the Mountain West News Bureau’s inquiry, the State Department provided a statement saying: Due to visa record confidentiality, we have no comment on Department actions with respect to specific cases.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between YOUR STATION, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
