The operatic notes of Ranchera music mingled with tastes, smells and art to form “Irresistible Resistance” at Distrito Catorce, a restaurant in Boyle Heights, on Saturday night. The new monthly event, sponsored by EP Extended Play, was billed as a night for the community to support businesses hurt by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

Music and food were center stage with multiple performances by the composer and musician San Cha, and plate after plate made by chef Jonathan Perez’s pop-up kitchen streaming out to every table. The community came out in support of one another and filled every seat.

“It’s a packed house. San Cha is singing her heart out like she always does, a lot of people have showed up for Distrito Catorce and for the community in Boyle Heights,” said Edward Patuto, the organizer of the event and director of audience engagement at The Broad.

The air was filled with a buzz of voices and the celebration of a common humanity as people mingled and met. Friends, family, art aficionados and food lovers showed the power of the shared joy in helping the community.

“We have not forgotten you, we are here with you, we stand with you,” Patuto said. “We’re not going to let your community businesses die because people are afraid to go out and have dinner or enjoy a Saturday night because they are afraid that ICE is going to show up.”

Like many areas of the country, the Latine neighborhoods of Los Angeles have been deeply affected by immigration sweeps, and Boyle Heights is no exception, according to Emma Robbins, an Indigenous activist.

“It’s really, really devastating to see people who are just our neighbors being taken away,” said Robbins, also founder of The Chapter House, a space for Indigenous art, empowerment and community.

It’s a change that hasn’t gone unnoticed by many local residents, and it can be disheartening, said Marlon Franco, an event attendee. There are palpable changes around every corner.

“There’s the obvious things that you can see, [such as] less people on the streets. And then there’s stuff that you can’t see behind the scenes,” Franco said. “You can’t feel the fear, you can’t feel the worry, you can’t see that people aren’t taking their kids to school or people aren’t going to go buy groceries.”

These fears and the outrage that comes with them bled through Cha’s performances. Dressed in a frilly, pink corset-dress, she belted out three short sets of three songs each. Her full range was on display with ornaments of soft and sweet notes leading into a sustained soaring high voice that filled all of Distrito Catorce.

In an interview with the Daily Trojan, Cha credited her family with why she started singing rancheras.

“When I moved to Mexico with my aunt, I arrived with no eyebrows and purple hair. All I had [were] like vintage clothes, and they were all torn and tattered and see-through and I had big platforms [on],” Cha said. “And she was like, ‘Girl, you’re busted, whatever little music you were making out there, obviously didn’t work out for you.’ She was like ‘You should start singing rancheras.’”

While the audience was captivated by Cha’s music, a steady stream of customers were buying drinks and getting bites of the tasty morsels that Chef Perez prepared, like pescado frito with aged white cheddar and tartare sauce. Despite the noise and non-stop orders, the Le-Cordon-Bleu-trained Chef never took his eyes off the food. Sporting a USC Rose Bowl hat, Perez flipped tortillas, grated cheese, poured sauce and made each dish look like a work of art.

Robbins said events like Irresistible Resistance are necessary.

“Now more than ever, we need each other; we need to have a physical space to come to … To come here to this event, seeing the art and having the visual understanding of what’s going on is important. Having a musician [who’s] singing in Español is super important,” Robbins said. “We need community now, and when we’re separated from each other, we can’t get as much done. So it’s good to come together and protest.”

In a time of great uncertainty in the Latine community, Irresistible Resistance sought to give the Boyle Heights community a small but powerful dose of hope.

“It means a lot for me to be able to do this. To take all the people I know, to take all the experiences I’ve had and use it on behalf of Los Angelinos who need it right now,” Patuto said.