Antonio Romero had waited all night in a packed arena here for the band to play his favorite song, a brassy, sultry cumbia he had danced to as a teenager in Mexico City.

It had been 22 years since he had left home, 22 years since his friends had told him: “We found a beautiful place. It’s 100% different than Mexico, but it’s beautiful.”

And they were right. North Carolina was beautiful, the work plentiful. But even though Romero, now 42, had built a good life here — with a family, a well-paying job as a handyman and a side gig as a DJ for quinceañeras and cumpleaños — the truth was his heart often ached for Mexico.