The Arizona Capitol will host a Mexican Independence Day event. Why that's a big deal

On Friday evening, an event deeply significant to many Mexicans will take place at the Arizona state Capitol, where a little more than a decade ago some of the toughest anti-immigrant laws in the country were passed in response to a wave of migration from Mexico.

Jorge Mendoza Yescas, Mexico's highest-ranking diplomat in Arizona, will stand on a stage in the central courtyard on the Capitol grounds, wave a large Mexican flag and perform the Grito de Dolores — the battle cry of Dolores — to mark the 213th anniversary of the start of Mexico's War of Independence from Spain.

Mendoza expects more than 1,000 people, some dressed in traditional Mexican attire, will attend the Mexican Independence Day celebration, which will be broadcast live by at least one local Spanish-language TV station, Telemundo. The performance will culminate with Mendoza Yescas, the consul general of Mexico in Phoenix, leading the large crowd in threefold shouts of patriotism, "Viva Mexico!"

Similar Grito de Dolores events will take place on Friday, the eve of Mexican Independence Day, in cities and towns throughout Mexico, including a huge celebration in Mexico City led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

In the U.S., Mexican consuls also perform the Grito de Dolores in cities and towns with historical and cultural ties to Mexico and large populations of Mexican immigrants and people of Mexican descent.

But this will be the first time a large-scale Mexican Independence Day celebration fully open to the public will be held at the Arizona state Capitol, a sign of how much the political landscape has changed in Arizona, which joins Texas, California and Massachusetts as states that have hosted the Grito de Dolores on state capitol grounds.

Having the Grito de Dolores at the Arizona Capitol "is very symbolic" since it is a place that not long ago was a source "of anti-immigration policies and laws," Mendoza Yescas said in his office at the Consulate General of Mexican near downtown Phoenix.

Previously, the consul general of Mexico in Phoenix performed the Grito de Dolores at various other locations, including Phoenix City Hall, the Orpheum Theatre, and at Barrios Unidos Park, located in a predominantly Latino neighborhood south of downtown.

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Holding the Grito de Dolores at the state Capitol is a recognition of Arizona's historical, cultural and economic ties to Mexico and the contributions of Mexicans and Mexican Americans to the state, he said. It also demonstrates a growing willingness by elected leaders on both sides of the political aisle to portray Arizona in a positive light to attract foreign investment and promote tourism, and repair some of the damage to the state's reputation following the passage of anti-immigration laws, Mendoza Yescas said.

"I think there is this hunger to portray Arizona as a good place to the rest of the world — to invest and also to show the tourist attractions," Mendoza Yescas said.

Republicans in Arizona spearheaded a series of laws and policies aimed at driving undocumented immigrants out of the state, culminating with the passage of SB 1070. The sweeping bill, signed by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010, sought to turn local police into de facto immigration officers, among other enforcement measures.

Dubbed the "show me your papers" law by critics who feared it would invite racial profiling of Latinos by law enforcement, the measure triggered an exodus of Latinos from Arizona. The law also sparked massive economic boycotts, another blow to Arizona's economy, which was already battered by the housing market crisis.

Yet it was Republican leaders who cleared the way for the Grito de Dolores to be held at the Arizona state Capitol, Mendoza Yescas said.

The Grito de Dolores is a reenactment of the call to arms made on Dieciséis de Septiembre, or Sept. 16, 1810, by a Catholic priest named Father Miguel Hidalgo in the town of Dolores in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Mexico's War of Independence from Spain lasted 11 years. Mexicans celebrate the Grito de Dolores on Sept. 15, the eve of Sept. 16.

Mendoza Yescas credited former House Speaker Rusty Bowers and former Senate President Karen Fann with agreeing to authorize his request to host the Grito de Dolores at the state Capitol in 2022, the first time the event was held there.

Bowers recalls responding, "Of course" when Mendoza Yescas asked if the Grito de Dolores could be performed at the state Capitol.

"It didn't take that long. It took like half a second," Bowers said.

"This isn't a call to turn America over to Mexico," Bowers said. "People need to recognize that these cultural experiences are good for our community. They do us no violence of any kind, and these events build and edify the relationship and the friendship, and we need to do more of this."

He pointed out that Arizona was once part of Mexico and, before that, New Spain. Arizona also has one of the largest Mexican-American populations of any state. Latinos make up nearly a third of Arizona's total population, the majority of whom are of Mexican descent.

"Some of us have got to get a clue someday that the challenges between countries don't require us to be enemies and that we can have celebrations like this where people can come together and recognize their culture and the events of the history of Mexico," said Bowers, who did a two-year mission in Monterrey, Mexico, in the early 1970s and worked for years among the Indigenous Tarahumara in the mountains of Chihuahua and Sinaloa.

What's more, Bowers said, celebrating Mexican Independence Day and Fourth of July are not mutually exclusive. Many people do both.

"My guess is that on the Fourth of July there is a whole bunch of Hispanos that are out there celebrating," Bowers said.

Because last year's request was made at the last minute, the Mexican Independence Day event at the Capitol was a small affair not well publicized, Mendoza Yescas said.

Mendoza expects a much larger crowd this year because it was authorized months in advance, again by Republican leaders. House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Peterson approved the request of several Hispanic lawmakers, Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, House Minority Leader Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, and Rep. Mariana Sandoval, D-Goodyear.

Hernandez, the state representative, said anti-Mexican, anti-immigrant sentiments still exist in Arizona but "hopefully are getting smaller and smaller."

Holding the Mexican Independence Day celebration at the Capitol shows the growing influence of Latinos in Arizona. There are now 33 legislators who identify as Latino or Latina in the 90-member state Legislature, more than a third, Hernandez said. In 2010, the year SB 1070 was approved, there were 14.

"That shows that we do have an impact, so why not also have an impact at the state Capitol where business is done for the entire state and also be the place where we hold this significant event for our Mexican community," Hernandez said.

In addition to the Grito de Dolores, the family-friendly, alcohol-free event will include a community fair, food trucks, and traditional music and folkloric dances, Mendoza Yescas said. The event will take place from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Mendoza Yescas will begin the Grito de Dolores portion at about 9:30 p.m.

Daniel Gonzalez covers race, equity and opportunity. Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8312.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why Mexico Independence Day event Grito de Dolores is at AZ Capitol