Angel Metropolis FC, the NWSL group primarily based in Los Angeles, distributed T-shirts to followers on Saturday that proclaimed “Immigrant Metropolis Soccer Membership.”
Members of the group and the teaching employees additionally wore the shirts earlier than their recreation Saturday night time in opposition to the North Carolina Braveness in solidarity with immigrants within the metropolis who’ve been focused by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers.
The again of the shirts mentioned “Los Angeles is for Everybody” in English and Spanish. The group mentioned some 10,000 shirts have been distributed.
Protests over President Donald Trump’s immigration insurance policies broke out in Los Angeles every week in the past. Nationwide Guard members and Marine troops have been despatched into town and dozens of comparable protests have damaged out nationwide.
Final week Angel Metropolis issued a press release on social media addressing the protests.
“We’re heartbroken by the concern and uncertainty many in our Los Angeles neighborhood are feeling proper now,” it mentioned. “At Angel Metropolis, we imagine within the energy of belonging. We all know that our metropolis is stronger due to it is range and the individuals and households who form it, like it and name it residence.”
The gamers’ unions for the NWSL and the WNBA additionally expressed solidarity with households “dealing with concern, hardship, and uncertainty tied to immigration.”
“We stand with all individuals looking for security, dignity, and alternative, regardless of the place they arrive from or the place they hope to go,” the NWSLPA and WNBPA posted collectively. “Each individual deserves to be handled with dignity and respect. We all know not each state of affairs is easy. However providing compassion ought to by no means be up for debate.”
