LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday said they asked federal immigration agents to leave the Dodger Stadium grounds after dozens of agents with their faces covered arrived in SUVs and cargo vans to a lot near the stadium’s Gate E entrance.
A group of protesters carrying signs against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) started amassing shortly after.
“This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization,” the Dodgers said in a statement posted on X.
After the Dodgers issued their statement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied having agents at Dodger Stadium.
“False,” the agency posted to X. “We were never there.”
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agents were with Customs and Border Protection and that they were not trying to enter the stadium.
“This had nothing to do with the Dodgers. CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement,” McLaughlin said in an email to The Associated Press.
ICE and CBP are both federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.
The Dodgers said Thursday’s game against the San Diego Padres will be played as planned.
Television cameras showed about four agents remained at the lot Thursday afternoon while officers with the Los Angeles Police Department stood between them and dozens of protesters, some carrying signs that read “I Like My Ice Crushed” and chanting “ICE out of L.A.!”
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez arrived at the stadium and said she had been in communication with Dodgers officials and the mayor’s office.
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“We’ve been in communication with the mayor’s office, with the Dodgers, with Dodgers security, about seeing if they can get them moved off their private property,” she told KABC-TV. “Public property is different. Private property — businesses and corporations have the power to say, ‘Not on my property,’ and so we’re waiting to see that movement happen here.”
Protests began June 6 after federal immigration raids arrested dozens of workers in Los Angeles. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire in the following days, and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.
The Dodgers have not gone on the record with a statement regarding the arrests and raids. The heavily Latino fan base has been pushing for the team to make a public statement, igniting a debate online about its stance on the immigration crackdown happening in Los Angeles.
The Donald Trump administration has activated more than 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines over the objections of city and state leaders. Dozens of troops now guard federal buildings and federal agents making arrests.
The demonstrations have been mostly concentrated downtown in the city of around 4 million people. Thousands of people have peacefully rallied outside City Hall, and hundreds more protested outside a federal complex that includes a detention center where some immigrants are being held following workplace raids.
Despite the protests, immigration enforcement activity has continued throughout the county, with city leaders and community groups reporting ICE presence at libraries, car washes and home improvement stores. School graduations in Los Angeles have increased security over fears of ICE action, and some have offered parents the option to watch via live streams.
