Mexican singer Julion Alvarez postpones Texas show after US visa allegedly revoked

By Erick Beltrán, Mauricio Torres and Kathleen Magramo, CNN

(CNN) — A popular Mexican singer, Julión Álvarez, says he and his band have had to cancel a show in Texas on Saturday night after the singer’s visa to enter the United States had been allegedly revoked.

The band, called Julión Álvarez y Su Norteño Banda, was due to play at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, around 30 miles west of Dallas, for a sold-out concert with nearly 50,000 tickets sold, the artist’s team said in a statement Friday.

The artist, show promoter CMN and management company Copar Music said that the show had been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances,” and that Álvarez was “unable to enter the United States in time for the event.”

Álvarez also announced the news on his Instagram account, saying in a video that he and his team were notified that his work visa had been revoked by US authorities earlier Friday.

“It is not possible for us to go to the United States and fulfill our show promise with all of you. It’s a situation that is out of our hands. That’s the information I have and what I can share,” he said in the video.

Álvarez said the stage had already been built and that his production team was already in Texas preparing for the show.

“I apologize to all of you, and if God permits, we will be in touch to provide more information,” he said.

The show’s promoter and Copar Music said they were working with Álvarez’s team to reschedule the performance. All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new date and refund details will be provided for those who cannot attend, it said.

A US State Department spokesperson declined to comment on Álvarez’s case, telling CNN that visa records are confidential and that, by law, they cannot comment on individual cases.

Álvarez and his band are the latest Mexican artists to allegedly have their US visas revoked amid Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

Last month, the State Department revoked the tourist visas of members of the Mexican band Los Alegres del Barranco, after they projected the face of a drug cartel boss onto a screen during a performance in the western state of Jalisco.

The Trump administration has also cracked down on foreign nationals allegedly linked directly or indirectly to drug cartels. This includes revoking the visas of artists whose work depicts drug cartels that the administration has deemed foreign terrorist organizations.

In 2017, Álvarez had his US work visa revoked after the US alleged he and around 20 other people – including soccer player Rafael Márquez – had ties to a drug trafficker linked to major cartels and were put under sanctions, according to a US Treasury statement.

Álvarez denied those allegations and said he was only connected to the trafficker over a real estate purchase.

Álvarez was removed from the sanctions list in 2022 and was able to regain his visa, making a return to the United States earlier this year with three sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in April.

With nearly 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Álvarez is renowned in Mexico for his traditional music style with elements of banda, norteña, and mariachi. Some of his top hits include heartbreak hits like “Póngamonos de Acuerdo” and “Te Hubieras Ido Antes.”

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