A popular Mexican singer had to cancel a concert in Texas scheduled for Saturday after the Trump administration allegedly revoked his visa, preventing him from entering the country. The singer, Julión Álvarez, was supposed to perform for 50,000 fans at the Arlington, Texas, stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play but was informed that his visa had been revoked with no further information, according to a video statement he posted on Instagram.
“We don’t have the ability to come to the US and fulfill our commitment to you,” the singer said. “The event will be postponed, until we hear what comes next.”
A state department spokesperson declined a request from CNN to comment on the visa status of Álvarez, who has been nominated for numerous Grammy and Latin Grammy awards.
In April, the state department revoked the visas of members of another Mexican band, Los Alegres del Barranco, after they projected the image of Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho”, during a concert. El Mencho is the leader of Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG), which has been designated a terrorist organization by the Trump administration. Earlier this year, El Mencho’s son was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Washington for helping run the cartel.
The alleged revocation of Álvarez’s visa comes eight years after the musician’s prior trouble with US authorities. The US treasury department sanctioned Álvarez in 2017 for allegedly working with a Mexican organized crime group allied with the CJNG, leading to the cancellation of a scheduled US tour. Álvarez has denied all allegations of ties to the cartels. In June 2022, the sanctions were removed and he was permitted to re-enter the US to perform. Now it appears he is in the US government’s crosshairs once again.
Others in the Mexican music world have been targeted by US officials for alleged criminal ties.
In March, the chief executive of Del Records, Ángel Del Villar, was found guilty by a federal jury in Los Angeles of working with a Mexico-based music promoter who was laundering money for the CJNG. Another prominent Mexican singer, Gerardo Ortiz, had pleaded guilty to related charges and testified against Del Villar, his former boss.
The music promoter in question, who had laundered money for the criminal groups, had previously pleaded guilty in the US. He was murdered in Mexico City in December.
The Trump administration has reportedly also started to revoke the visas of prominent Mexican politicians that US authorities believe have ties to drug-trafficking organizations. So far, two Mexican politicians have publicly acknowledged their ban from the US: Marina del Pilar Ávila, the governor of the state of Baja California, and her husband, the former Mexican congress member Carlos Torres Torres.
ProPublica reported this month that there is a list of prominent political figures who are being targeted by the US for visa revocations. The list of officials, compiled recently by the White House, reportedly overlaps with a 2019 list compiled by DEA agents of allegedly corrupt Mexican officials.
That year, Mexico’s then president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, severely limited DEA agents’ work in the country, infuriating the agency, which saw it as an attempt to block its work in attempting to stem the flow of fentanyl. The DEA still operates in Mexico, alongside other US law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and others.
