For weeks, as Los Angeles has been roiled by militarized immigration raids and fierce protests that sprung up in response, and as Governor Gavin Newsom and other local leaders squared off against Donald Trump, the Dodgers seemed determined to stay out of the fray. On Thursday, however, the unrest came directly to their gates. A little after noon local time, the team issued a statement on X saying that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had “requested permission to access the parking lots” at Dodger Stadium earlier that morning but “were denied entry to the grounds by the organization.”
By then, there were already reports of masked federal officers arriving at the stadium in vans, while social media was flooded with videos of agents staging near one of the entrances. A group of anti-ICE protesters was also at the scene, creating a tense standoff outside one of the country’s most iconic ballparks.
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ICE disputed the Dodgers’ account of the events with its own statement on X. “False,” the agency said. “We were never there.” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, told the Associated Press that agents were in fact with Customs and Border Protections. “This had nothing to do with the Dodgers,” McLaughlin said. “CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.”
Whatever it was that played out on Thursday, it came as the team was on the verge of finally addressing a crisis that has enveloped Los Angeles and much of the country. The Dodgers, perhaps the city’s most beloved team and a franchise with deep ties to southern California’s Latino community, have taken heat from many for not speaking out against the ICE raids.
In a piece published last week, Los Angeles Times sports columnist Dylan Hernández ripped the team for its “cowardly” and “disrespectful” silence, noting that more than 40 percent of the Dodgers’ fan base is Latino.
“The Dodgers have abdicated their social responsibilities, and in doing so, they have once again let down many of their most loyal fans—the fans who made the Dodgers a part of their family because of Fernando Valenzuela, the fans who passed down the love of the team to their children and grandchildren, the fans who wear their merchandise around town.”
Amid mounting public pressure, the Dodgers were expected to finally break their silence on Thursday by unveiling an initiative to assist communities affected by the ICE raids, but the official announcement was reportedly postponed due to the events involving federal agents earlier in the day.
It wasn’t the first time that the citywide tension bubbled to the surface at Chavez Ravine. Before a game last Saturday at Dodger Stadium, the singer Nezza performed a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in Spanish as a show of solidarity with immigrant communities, despite team officials asking her to sing in English. “This is my moment to show everyone that I am with them, that we have a voice and with everything that’s happening it’s not OK,” Nezza said. “I’m super proud that I did it. No regrets.”
And while the team still has offered no official comment on the raids and protests, one of its most popular players spoke out last weekend. In a post on Instagram, Dodgers utilityman Kike Hernández said he was “saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city.”
“ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights,” said Hernández, a native of Puerto Rico, signing off the post with the hashtag “#CityOfImmigrants.”
Hernández’s post did not mention Trump, who hosted the Dodgers at the White House in April to commemorate last season’s World Series title. The team, including star shortstop Mookie Betts, downplayed the political symbolism of the visit. “I’m not trying to make this political by any means at all,” Betts said at the time. “All it is is just me being with my team to celebrate something.” Stan Kasten, the Dodgers’ CEO, echoed that, saying the trip to the White House had “nothing to do with politics.”
But the events on Thursday captured a defining element of the Trump era, and a lesson that the team is likely learning in real time: try as you might to avoid them, the politics of the moment eventually find you.
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