[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 96 (Thursday, June 5, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2473-H2474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING RIGO PADILLA

  (Mr. Garcia of Illinois was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, I had the 
honor of joining the Gage Park community in Chicago to celebrate the 
life and legacy of Rigo Padilla, a beloved son of Chicago and a 
trailblazer in the fight for immigrant justice.
  In 2009, Rigo faced deportation, but he didn't back down. He 
organized, fought, and helped bring a movement to its feet.
  This month marks 13 years since DACA was created. It was leaders like 
Rigo who helped lay the foundation for that breakthrough.
  Long before DACA and before his name made national headlines, Rigo 
was building power among undocumented youth and demanding that this 
country recognize our full humanity.
  This weekend, a street was named after Rigo. At a time when 
immigrants are once more under attack, when ICE raids, visa bans, and 
threats to basic rights are making families feel unsafe, his story 
couldn't be more urgent.
  He taught us that being undocumented didn't mean being powerless. We 
all deserve dignity. History doesn't change on its own. People like 
Rigo Padilla Perez make it move. Let this honorary street and 
anniversary be more than a symbol. Let it be a call to action.

[[Page H2474]]

  



                Supporting Mexican Musicians and Artists

  Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise to denounce this 
administration's move to unilaterally cancel the visas of Mexican 
musicians and artists.
  Last week, Julion Alvarez, the proclaimed King of the Box Office, was 
denied entry to the U.S. and blocked from performing in back-to-back, 
sold-out shows at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas. This is not because 
of routine policy but because of targeted cultural suppression.
  He is not alone. Grupo Firme and Espinoza Paz, both nominated artists 
for a Latin Grammy, and others have faced such abrupt denials.
  Canceling visas for Mexican artists is not to mute a song. It is to 
try and silence a force. Mexican music is powerful. It fills stadiums. 
It breaks streaming records. It empowers communities. It connects 
generations. It drives economies on both sides of the border.
  Festivals like Suenos in Chicago bring vibrancy, pride, and tourism 
to our cities. It is a celebration of identity. Jeopardizing it means 
lost jobs and sends a message that our community and our joy are not 
welcome.
  Our culture is not fragile. It is booming. It won't be erased. It is 
more than a visa issue. It is a campaign to criminalize culture, 
demoralize communities, and create a permanent underclass.
  These targeted bans on certain people, history, languages, books, and 
now the arts and entertainment are tactics to control, invalidate, and 
exclude us.
  In a country that prides itself on valuing freedom, it is a threat to 
freedom of expression, freedom of speech, and the right to exist. This 
administration wants our labor without our families or our culture. 
They want profit from us without our voices.
  It is more than a war on music. It is a war on dignity. It is a war 
on Mexicans, on Mexican Americans, immigrants, and all diverse 
communities.
  We will not stay quiet. We will continue to defend our culture with 
pride ``that we are from here and from there''; ``que somos de aquiy de 
alla,'' inspired by the generations before us and encouraged for the 
generations after us.

                          ____________________