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The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to visit the White House once again after winning their second straight World Series title.
The Dodgers became the first team to win back-to-back Fall Classics since the New York Yankees won three straight from 1998 to 2000 after completing a Game 7 comeback against the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings.
The team took a trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. back in April during a series against the Washington Nationals, and if that’s the plan again, the Dodgers would head back over sometime between April 3–5 next year.
But an immigration rights group is pleading with the team to not go.
“The Los Angeles Dodgers have always been more than a baseball team — they’re part of the spirit of who we are as a city. The team represents our neighborhoods, our families, and our shared love for our diverse communities. But right now, our community, our city are under siege, we need them to stand with us, on the right side of history,” the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) wrote in an online petition.
“Ask the team to honor the unity, integrity and diversity they themselves represent. They cannot stay silent as our families and neighbors face violence, detention, and deportation. By visiting a president who has used his power to harm the most vulnerable, the team would be turning its back on the very people who fill the stadiums, wear the jerseys, and give this team its heart. By encouraging the team to do the right thing, we will show the White House that Los Angeles stands for compassion, dignity, and solidarity with their immigrant neighbors.”
“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. Dodgers, stay with us. Stand with the city that has always stood with you,” they said in an Instagram post, via ABC7 in Los Angeles.
Hard-throwing reliever Brusdar Graterol, along with some others, missed out on the celebration earlier this year. Graterol opted to stay at “my brown house.”
Outfielder Mookie Betts decided to go this year after opting out of his trip with the Boston Red Sox in 2019.
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“This is not about me; I don’t want anything to be about me. This is about the Dodgers. Because these boys were there for me,” Betts said, via the Los Angeles Times.
Betts said he regretted not making the trip in 2019, which manager Alex Cora and pitcher David Price also skipped, saying he felt he was a distraction. Cora recently admitted he skipped out on meeting Trump because he wanted to prioritize his home of Puerto Rico. When the Red Sox visited the White House in May 2019, Puerto Rico was still recovering from the destruction of Hurricane Maria in 2017, and Cora wasn’t satisfied with the federal government’s response.
An L.A. Times writer in March pleaded with the Dodgers to tell the White House, “Thanks, but no,” regarding this year’s visit.
“The president lost L.A. County by 33 percentage points. In his feuds with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Trump has threatened to withhold fire disaster funds without concessions. He seems to never miss an opportunity to take a swipe at the Golden State,” the story read, noting stakeholders’ Magic Johnson’s and Billie Jean King’s criticisms of Trump in the past.
In June, the Dodgers said they turned away ICE agents entry to the grounds of their stadium, but ICE said that was “false” since they were “never there.” The team said the agents had “requested permission to access the parking lots,” but an ICE spokesperson said in an email to Fox News Digital at the time that “ICE was never at Dodgers stadium, and thus never tried to gain access.” In a statement of their own after ICE’s denial, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said that “CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly,” and it “had nothing to do with the Dodgers.”
Earlier that month, local singer Nessa performed the national anthem in Spanish as a form of protest against ICE raids in the city. Outfielder Kike Hernandez, a hero of Game 6, made a social media post about the protests at the time.
“I may not be Born & Raised, but this city adopted me as one of their own,” Hernandez wrote on Instagram. “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.
“ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights. #CityOfImmigrants.”
The Dodgers visited former President Joe Biden in July 2021 to celebrate their 2020 World Series title.
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