The Los Angeles Dodgers said on Thursday they denied US immigration enforcement agents access to the parking lot at Dodger Stadium earlier in the day.
“This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots,” the team said in a post on X.
“They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight’s game will be played as scheduled.”
But Ice said in a response to the Dodgers tweet that its agents “were never there”, and Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, said in a statement that “this had nothing to do with the Dodgers. CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.”
The back and forth only added to anxiety in a city left on edge by frequent and brazen immigration enforcement actions.
The homeland security presence came as immigrant communities in LA are on high alert as federal agents have raided workplaces, parking lots and a swap-meet in search of undocumented immigrants.
Since the department stepped up enforcement in the region, there have been persistent rumors that the stadium of the Dodgers, a team which has a large Latino fanbase, may be a target.
On Thursday, several local journalists had spotted dozens of DHS vehicles, with masked officers, near Dodger Stadium. The agents refused to tell a Los Angeles Times reporter why they were there.
A source told the newspaper that federal agents met near the stadium for a briefing but departed when photos of their meeting started to spread on social media.
Kevin Takumi, a videographer and photographer for Fox’s Los Angeles affiliate, posted aerial video on X showing several vans and SUVs, and apparent immigration officers, around entrances to the stadium.
“Ice agents are taking up positions at the entrances to Dodger Stadium, media and crowd beginning to arrive,” Takumi wrote.
Jack Harris, the Dodgers beat writer for the Los Angeles Times, said on X: “Regarding the photos going around on social media this morning about ICE agents at Dodger Stadium: sources say Ice agents tried to access Dodger Stadium today, but were denied entry to the grounds by the team.”
Another journalist, Fabian Ardaya, who covers the Dodgers for the Athletic, wrote: “Ice agents attempted to access Dodger Stadium this morning but were denied by the Dodgers. Images had circulated this morning of agents appearing to use the parking lots as a staging area.”
Protesters arrived at Dodger Stadium soon after. Police formed a line in front of one of the stadium’s entrances, LAist reported.
Television cameras showed that about four agents remained at the lot on 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 LA!”
Eunisses Hernandez, an LA city council member, said she had been in communication with Dodgers officials and the mayor’s office.
“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.”
The Dodgers and San Diego Padres are playing in Los Angeles on Thursday evening at 7.10pm local time. There will also be a celebrity softball game to celebrate Black Heritage Night, CNN said.
The Dodgers have come under fire in recent weeks from part of its fanbase for not speaking up for LA’s immigrant community amid the raids.
On Saturday, singer Vanessa Hernández sang the US national anthem in Spanish, as a protest against the immigration raids. Hernández, who performs under the stage name Nezza, said the Dodgers told her to sing in English.
The team said it will announce its plans for helping immigrant communities harmed by recent raids later this week.