Over the last month, many fans and groups within the Latino community have called for a boycott of their much-loved team – the Los Angeles Dodgers. While scores of Angelenos have urged their team to speak out against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that have turned LA’s iconic streets into military zones, the franchise has failed to denounce the attacks on their most loyal fans.
One longtime Dodgers fan – actor and comedian George Lopez, a homegrown San Fernando native – joined the outcry and made it public on Facebook that he had been blocked recently by the sports organization on social media after he criticized them for not speaking out against the raids.
“So they’ll take a stand on me, but not on the treatment of the families who called Chavez Ravine home before they decided to build a baseball stadium where they lived and where their families called home,” Lopez wrote on Facebook. “Also, no comment from the owners. … If anyone doesn’t belong, it’s the Dodgers.”
His post is just one of the latest by longtime fans who are angry and disappointed by the franchise’s silence, which boasts a fanbase that is approximately 40% Latino.
Kiké Hernandez Speaks Out While Dodgers Feign Ignorance
The closest thing to a direct statement came from Manager Dave Roberts during a June 13 pre-game conference, where he said, “I know that when you’re having to bring people in and deport people and just kind of all that unrest, it’s certainly unsettling for everyone.” He would add that he “hasn’t done enough and can’t speak intelligently on it.”
Only one player on the team so far, Kiké Hernandez from Puerto Rico, has made a statement condemning the raids, saying, “I am saddened and infuriated by what’s happening in our country and our city. Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart.”
Singer Nezza Shares Behind-the-Scenes View
The Dodgers faced more public backlash following Nezza’s National Anthem performance on June 15, when a team employee told her right before her performance to reverse her original plans to sing in Spanglish and insisted Nezza sing the anthem in English. But, after that unexpected directive, Nezza, a daughter of immigrant parents, sang in Spanish, which generated big applause. Afterward, Dodgers staff told her manager, “Don’t email us. Don’t call us ever again. Your clients are never welcome here ever again.”
Nezza understood the message to mean she had been banned from another booking and the story went viral on social media and mainstream news. The Dodgers then backpedaled and said Nezza was not banned and she was “welcome back at the stadium.”
Nonetheless, many fans and groups took the Dodgers’ response to Nezza’s performance as deeply troubling, amplifying the calls to boycott.
Keep Your Money at Home
“We’re asking fans Dodger fans to stay home, watch [the games] at the bars, at the local businesses, at the hubs, go shop local, Little Tokyo, downtown, Chinatown, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Highland Park, our businesses need you,” Raúl Claros from the Little Latin America USA Network told news media.
“So go watch the team – it’s not an issue against the players – but don’t go give another cent into the stadium.”
The situation came to a head when community members learned immigration agents were using the Dodgers parking lot for “staging” with plans to even process detainees at that location.
On June 19, according to the sports organization, ICE agents requested permission to access their parking lots, but after protestors and local elected officials rushed to the scene, the Dodgers refused entry.
Afterwards, there were claims that it wasn’t ICE, but agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) who were at the stadium. CBP agents were reported to have made arrests at a Home Depot in Hollywood earlier in the day, but as the situation escalated, CBP decided to transfer people who were detained to transport vans in an open parking lot at the stadium.
The following day, the Dodgers announced it would commit $1 million toward direct financial assistance for families of immigrants “impacted by recent events in the region.”
“What’s happening in Los Angeles has reverberated among thousands upon thousands of people, and we have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected,” said Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten alongside the announcement. “We believe that by committing resources and taking action, we will continue to support and uplift the communities of Greater Los Angeles.”
Still, the Dodgers’ statement failed to denounce the action that is violently stalking immigrant families and has forced them into hiding.
The million dollar donation which has been referred to as “a drop in the bucket for the Dodgers” has failed to appease fans who want their team to firmly stand by the Latino community, which is a huge source of loyal revenue with ticket sales and the purchase of pop merchandise – Los Doyers hats, shirts, jerseys and more.
Latino Dodger fans, after many years, contended with the organization’s cruel history at Chavez Ravine and made a deliberate pivot to support their home team.
The arrival of “Fernandomania,” brought by Mexican pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, made them fans for life and increased the Spanish language audience, first established by Dodgers broadcaster Jaime Jarrin, who called games in Spanish for 64 seasons from 1958 to 2022.
Dodgers’ Financial Ties to the Deportation Business
The suggestion that “sports are sports and politics are politics” is the driving force behind the Dodgers’ current passive stance is far less likely than the financial relationship the Dodgers have to the massive profits that apprehending and the detention of human beings bring to its investors.
Mark Walter, the principal owner of the Dodgers, holds a stake in the GEO Group, a private prison corporation that operates ICE detention centers. Walter also leads TWG Global, which partnered with Palantir Technologies, which built a data analytics platform including facial recognition to track immigrants and support deportation efforts. ICE is reported to have paid Palantir Technologies $39 million to develop the surveillance platform ImmigrationOS.
Many took issue when the Dodgers accepted President Donald Trump’s visit to the White House last April after their World Series win. The trip was at the same time when the Trump administration was removing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from the Department of Defense website, including removing the story about baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s military service.
“The dots are now all connecting,” said Mary Escondon, now a former Dodger fan.
“We have loved the Dodgers, maybe at one time they loved us back, but now they aren’t showing any respect or appreciation for who we are and our support for the team,” she said. “So it’s time for a boycott and maybe even a painful divorce.”
The San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol reached out to the Dodgers organization for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.
This’ll last about a minute.
40 percent are Latino, that means 60 percent are not. Before Fernando, the Dodgers did just fine. Just let the team play. They haven’t and shouldn’t take sides. They’re not there to make any group happy or to choose sides. They are there to play baseball only.
You are a bigot and your point of view is disturbing and disgusting!
Dodgers don’t care if the Mexicans boycott the team. The multi race fan base in L.A. is way too large. They have fans from all walks of life.
I do not watch sport, this is not against the players, but to support Crime is not a good example. Very Sad.
Kicked Hernandez should have done his homework before joining the Dodgers organization. Not once but two timeshe sind up for money to plat for the Dodgers. Yes the Mexican community got kicked out of Chavez Ravine. It’s not the current Dodger owners who ran the community out. Politics are politics and baseball is baseball. Kike should donate his own money to any cause he wants. The Dodgers organization has no business in partaking in political ideology like the black lives matter. It imposed other Dodger teammates to side with BLM politics. Iam shure ALL Dodger teammates didn’t want to be involved in BLM issues bur joined only to get criticized for not joining BLM issue. Kike should stand up and quit the Dodgers if he feels that strongly about it. I think if Kike makes a few million dollars from the Dodgers he should put his money where his mouth is or quit baseball all together and go live somewhere else. America the best country to live in. Not perfect but thats why millions cross the border knowing the circumstances of their status and Kike knows that . The Dodger organization knows that. The Dodger organization should focus on winning an other World Series Championship. That what all team players signed up for including Kike. They didn’t sign up for political reasons.