Immigration rights group urges Dodgers to skip White House visit after World Series victory

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Immigration rights groups are calling on the back-to-back World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers to decline a visit to the White House over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in the city.

Typically, professional sports teams that win championships visit the nation’s capital and the president.

But the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) is urging the Dodgers to break from that tradition following ongoing immigration raids across Southern California.

“Los Angeles is a city built by immigrants, working families, and dreamers. We celebrate our champions, but we also stand for justice, dignity, and love for our community,” the non-profit organization said in an Instagram post. “Dodgers, stay with us. Stand with the city that has always stood with you.”

Community members and Dodger fans stood along Sunset and Vin Scully for a press conference on Wednesday, speaking directly to the players who won a second consecutive World Series title.

“We celebrate as we weep the families that have been devastated by the mass deportations,” said Pablo Alvarado, the co-executive director of NDLON.

“It’s time for Dodger baseball to hit a home run for human dignity,” said Mark Chase with the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.

The Dodgers have accepted previous invitations. In 2021, with then-President Joe Biden, and they joined President Donald Trump this past April, just two months before he began targeting Los Angeles in massive and violent immigration sweeps.

“When I see Jose wearing his ‘ICE out of L.A.’ t-shirt and his Dodgers jersey, I see the conflict that we all feel in our hearts,” Alvarado said, pointing to another NDLON member.

In the streets surrounding Dodger Stadium, there’s artwork conveying a similar sentiment.

Some speakers at the press conference referenced reports that federal immigration agents staged in the stadium parking lot on Tuesday, and scrutiny of Dodgers chairman and controlling owner Mark Walter over reported investments linked to immigration detention centers. NDLON said that the message is for the players, stressing that many of them are also immigrants.

“If you go to shake the hand of the man who is causing so much suffering for us, that constitutes a full betrayal,” Alvarado said.

In an open letter to the Dodgers, the NDLON is asking fans to sign a petition urging the team to decline the White House visit. More than 8,680 people had signed the petition as of Wednesday night.