Mariachi Juvenil forced to cancel

The group Mariachi Juvenil Tecatliltán, one of several groups scheduled to perform in Tucson at the mariachi conference's Espectacular Concert tomorrow night, has been forced to cancel because the federal government denied its requests for temporary performers' visas.
Although obtaining the visas for performers is an arduous process the conference goes through each year, it has been rare that a group has been denied them, according to organizers.
Founded by sons of the world-renowned Mariachi Vargas de Tecatliltán, the group will be stuck in Mexico City this weekend after U.S. officials decided a handful of the band members could be at risk to overstay visas.
"Just imagine how we felt," band director Marco Antonio Santiago said during a telephone interview yesterday from Mexico City. "We've been practicing so much, for years, to play in this type of event. And now we can't go."
The group applied for P-3 visas, issued to culturally unique performing groups, to play in the concert, which is part of the weeklong Bank One Tucson International Mariachi Conference.
Mariachi Juvenil had counted on making the performance in Tucson until yesterday, when band members went to the U.S. Embassy to pick up the visas.
The mariachis then found out that four of the 12 musicians lacked proof that they were strongly economically established in Mexico, such as having bank accounts and property deeds.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service and U.S. State Department, which jointly process application and issue temporary work visas, looks for evidence that applicants have strong ties to their native countries, said INS spokeswoman Virginia Kice.
Applicants "need to establish they have property and employment that is going to ensure they will return when they complete their business in the United States," Kice said. "What they're trying to establish is that that person has strong enough emotional and financial ties to their native country to ensure their return."
But the group was in no danger of overstaying its welcome, the band director said.
Mariachi Juvenil is well established in the Mexican music scene. Antonio Santiago and his brother, Fernando, are the core of the 12-member group, which was founded in 13 years ago with the sons of Mariachi Vargas members.
The brothers draw much of their inspiration from their late father, a guitarrón virtuoso who was one of the famous Vargas musicians.
Although few of the Mariachi Juvenil's original members remain, the group has gained acclaim in Mexico, releasing four CDs and appearing on Mexican TV. It recently was nominated as one of the three best in the world at the Mariachi Conference in Mexico City.
The group's loss on the schedule of performers for the Espectacular Concert tomorrow night is disappointing, said conference coordinator Lolie Gomez. But the conference was able to obtain six temporary performers' visas for its headlining group, Herencia Mexicana, which arrived from Mexico yesterday.
Gomez starts the process of obtaining visas for performers at the annual conference just after the previous one ends, she said. The process can be involved, but INS is typically cooperative - provided musicians have all the documents for a performer's visa.
"The problem is that (some) of them are not economically established," Gomez said. "That's really the only issue, and there are really very few of those."
Phyllis Franzoy, co-director of the mariachi conference in Las Cruces, N.M., said she had not run into problems with performers lacking proof of equity in Mexico.
"We've never had any problems, but we bring in some of the better-known, well- established groups," she said, listing off names including Mariachi Vargas, Angeles Ochoa and Lola Beltran.
In Mexico, Mariachi Juvenil has played concerts with each of those acts. But the band has not made a trip to the United States for about a decade.
The group still looks forward to playing in Tucson, Antonio Santiago said, although it will miss tomorrow night's concert, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Tucson Convention Center.
"We still have hope," Antonio Santiago said. "Maybe next year."