By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Immigrant rights leaders and others on Friday called on the Los Angeles Dodgers organization to make a “forceful stand” against raids being carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across the city.
The Dodgers have a large Latino fan base and calls for the team to make a public statement denouncing the raids have grown since they began two weeks ago.
“This is the moment for the Dodgers to stand with the families whom masked agents are tearing apart,” a coalition of over 50 community, labor, faith, and immigrant rights leaders said in a petition to the team.
“Children who may have sat in your seats enjoying a game now come home with no parents to receive them and no word of their whereabouts or well-being other than reports of inhumane treatment in detention centers across California and the Southwest.”
The leaders asked the Dodgers to issue a public statement saying that the ICE raids must stop and to back organizations focused on “integrating immigrants into the fabric of our great region.”
The Dodgers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The petition comes a day after the Dodgers said they had denied ICE agents access to the parking lot at Dodger Stadium, and it called on the Dodgers to continue to ensure that no Dodgers’ property be used for immigration enforcement operations.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said on Thursday that CBP vehicles used the parking lot briefly and that their presence “had nothing to do with the Dodgers.”
The raids have sparked street protests, which in turn prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to send in the National Guard and U.S. Marines to protect federal personnel and property, fueling more protests and tension.
The Dodgers, coming off a World Series championship in 2024, are a cultural touchstone in Los Angeles. Their Latino fan base has been a large part of the team’s identity at least since the “Fernandomania” craze surrounding Mexican-born pitcher Fernando Valenzuela in the early 1980s.
The professional soccer clubs LAFC and Angel City FC have issued statements of support for immigrants but otherwise the city’s sports franchises have refrained from commenting.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; editing by Diane Craft)
