Mexican Band Cancels U.S. Show After Trump Administration Suspends Visas

The suspension is just the latest in a series of moves the Trump administration has taken targeting Mexican artists.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The popular Mexican regional music band Grupo Firme announced on Friday that it was canceling a performance in a music festival in California over the weekend after the United States government suspended the musicians’ visas.

It comes after the U.S. State Department has revoked visas of a number of Mexican musicians for playing a genre of music that it says glorifies cartel violence.

The group, which has soared to international fame playing Mexican regional music, said in a statement posted on its Instagram account that the visas of them and their team are currently under “administrative review by the U.S. Embassy” and that it would make it “impossible” for them to perform in the La Onda Fest to be held in the city of Napa Valley, California on June 1. But the post didn’t detail what it would mean in the long term for the musical group.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said that visa cases are confidential according to U.S. law and couldn’t provide more information on the case.

The suspension is just the latest in a series of moves the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has taken targeting Mexican artists in the genre, who in some cases have glorified the leaders of cartels as sort of Robin Hood figures. While the genre of “narco-corridos” has stirred controversy, much of the music also speaks to the harsh realities facing Mexican youth caught in cartel violence.