Minnesota Just Won the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Highest Honor for Standing Up to ICE
More than 30 Minnesotans crowded onto one stage at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on Thursday night to accept the biggest honor of a ceremony four decades in the making. Organizers chose Minnesota because of the federal immigration surge that swept through the state last winter, MPR News reported.
Organizers said the decision followed a visit that February, when a local man invited national leaders, Tijerino included, to see the state firsthand. Antonio Tijerino, president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, told MPR News that they came and left inspired by how the community had rallied to protect its neighbors.
Antonio Tijerino’s Loud Message
At one point during the ceremony, Tijerino held up a sign that read, “I am an immigrant.”
“We can’t ever allow a feeling of helplessness to become a feeling of hopelessness. And Minnesotanos are neither helpless nor hopeless,” Tijerino said. “They are an embodiment of solidarity, unity, resourcefulness, strength, brilliance, faith, bravery and ganas. And that’s why we’re here.”
Castro, Sariñana and Laferte Also Took Home Awards That Night
The Humanitarian Award wasn’t the only honor handed out at Orchestra Hall. Ximena Sariñana received the Music Award, and Mon Laferte received the Social Justice Award, joining fellow musicians Oscar D’León and Eladio Carrión, who were also recognized in person. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas received the Public Service Award and used his speech to thank Minnesotans for their activism during Operation Metro Surge.
“The whole nation was inspired by how this community came together when it was under siege by ICE and the Trump administration, with thousands of agents on the street trying to pick up kids and their parents,” Castro said. “And so to have [the Hispanic Heritage Awards] here this year is very fitting.”
Still, the night’s final honor, the Humanitarian Award, belonged to an entire state. More than 30 Minnesotans took the stage together to accept it, representing a range of organizations, businesses and other groups that had actively supported people during the federal immigration surge, according to a host committee member cited by MPR News.
Nearly Four Decades of History
The White House created the Hispanic Heritage Awards in 1988 to mark the launch of Hispanic Heritage Month, and the ceremony grew from there into what organizers now call “America’s Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration,” supported by more than 40 national Latino-serving institutions and broadcast nationally on PBS, according to the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. Past honorees include Rita Moreno, Gloria Estefan and Bad Bunny, names that usually share a stage with a much bigger backdrop than a Minneapolis concert hall. This year, for the first time in the ceremony’s history, the Awards left Washington altogether.
Los Tigres del Norte Closed the Night With a Message
The California-based band Los Tigres del Norte presented the Humanitarian Award to Minnesota and performed two songs meant to represent Latin Americans in the United States. Band member Luis Hernández said the group wanted to send a message.
“We have to keep on going. We don’t have to give up, especially in these moments,” Hernández said.