The Los Angeles Rams and Chargers might soon have to deal with a similar issue the Dodgers had to deal with this week as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to ramp up President Donald Trump’s desperate efforts to remove undocumented people from the country.
ICE raids included the premises of Dodger Stadium, as federal agents attempted to use the ballpark’s parking lots as a site to process people who had been arrested in a raid near the facility. The Dodgers deny allowing ICE access to the parking lot, though the federal agency said the team was not being truthful about granting access to the parking lot.
The Dodgers wound up donating $1 million to families of immigrants affected by recent wildfires in the region.
The Los Angeles Rams and Chargers have a decision to make
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote that what happened with the Dodgers is a sort of case study for the Rams and Chargers, who might find that ICE wants to use access to SoFi Stadium for similar activities during the upcoming football season.
“SoFi Stadium will be hosting 19 total NFL games featuring the Chargers and the Rams,” Florio wrote. “Unlike Dodger Stadium, where the gates can be accessed only through a parking-lot area not open to the public, the gates at SoFi Stadium are fully open to the public and not within an area to which access can be denied.
“Which means that federal agents can, if they choose, gather at the gates to SoFi in search of those who are or who may be authorized to be present in the United States.”
Undocumented people by sneakers too
The NFL and owners will be put in a tough spot by the politics ICE is forcing them to side on this summer and fall. The league as a whole and many of the owners are decidedly conservative, with New York Jets owner Woody Johnson a former appointee as ambassador to the U.K. by President Donald Trump.
But many players, coaches, and fans have different political views. The league profits from undocumented people watching games, buying merchandise, and buying tickets to watch games.
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