The silence of cowards

In Los Angeles, there are two basketball teams (Lakers and Clippers), two football teams (Rams and Chargers), two baseball teams (Dodgers and Angels), two soccer teams (Galaxy and LAFC), and one ice hockey team (Kings). Many of their fans are immigrants in a city where Latinos are the largest ethnic group (48.6% of the population, according to the latest census). Even so, the common denominator among all these franchises, and the vast majority of their stars, has been to avoid immigration raids hunting down undocumented immigrants and the presence of the National Guard and Marines on the city streets. The goal: not to offend Republican voters and all those who justify the state's actions.

The only entity that has had the courage to speak out is Angel City, of the NWSL (women's soccer league), which in sporting terms is not much (tenth out of fourteen teams in the standings, with more losses than wins), but has set an example by printing ten thousand t-shirts with the inscription “Immigrant City FC” on the front, and on the back “Los Angeles is for everyone/para todos” (in English and Spanish), and having its players, as well as coach Alexander Straus, walk out wearing them onto the BMO Stadium turf for the recent official championship match against North Carolina.

It is the women's football team with the most members and the highest market value in the world.

Angel City, founded in 2022 and whose board of directors includes actresses Natalie Portman (as a founding member) and Jennifer Garner, has clearly positioned itself since the beginning of the raids, creating a perfect symbiosis between its management, fans, coaching staff, and players. In the previous match against Chicago, fans agreed to remain silent throughout the match, and six rows of the stands near one of the goalposts were cleared to display a large banner reading: "Abolish ICE" (the agency that hunts and deports undocumented immigrants, as well as many with papers, whom it treats as if they were undocumented because of their dark skin color).

Angel City doesn't score many goals in soccer, but they've nailed one in their defense of the immigrant community of Greater Los Angeles, who wash the cars, clean the houses, take care of the gardens, and serve the meals, and without whom the metropolis would cease to function. They're not afraid, unlike the rest of the clubs, who have chosen not to get involved, and unlike superstars from all sports whose agents have advised them not to say a word, because half the country is behind Trump.

“Football doesn’t exist without immigrants”

Its finances are also doing well, as it's the most valuable women's club in the world ($250 million), ahead of Chelsea ($200 million), the Las Vegas Aces ($140 million), and the San Diego Wave ($120 million). It also has the largest membership and the highest average stadium attendance. It has recently restructured with the influx of outside capital and significant investments in signings.

Jerseys aside, the club hands out cards at game entrances with phrases like "The social fabric of Los Angeles is immigration" or "Soccer doesn't exist without immigrants," which in theory go against NWSL rules, which prohibit "flags, banners, apparel, and signs that reference current conflicts, countries, political parties, or electoral candidates involved."

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There's no doubt that Angel City FC is against Trump and in favor of Los Angeles immigrants, legal or undocumented, who work as mules to send a little money to Mexico or El Salvador. The silence of cowards has always been the best weapon of dictators, genocidaires, and autocrats.

Raids and sport The two Hernándezes: the baseball player, the singer, and the “starry banner”

LeBron James? Luka Doncic? Shohei Ohtani? James Harden? One of the few professional players from Los Angeles teams to speak out against the immigration raids is Puerto Rican Dodgers player Kiké Hernández, a two-time World Series winner and Major League Baseball veteran. He has said that “the community is being violated” and “everyone deserves respect and dignity.” Singer Vanessa Hernández performed the U.S. anthem (“El pendón estrellado”) in Spanish, despite being told not to by the Dodgers.