{"id":373098,"date":"2026-06-24T15:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/373098\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T15:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:24:08","slug":"dodgers-fulfill-1-million-pledge-in-response-to-ice-raids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/373098\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers fulfill $1-million pledge in response to ICE raids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 decision to deny U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents access to Dodger Stadium wasn\u2019t the way the team intended to first address the surge of federal immigration enforcement a year ago.<\/p>\n

Pressed by religious, labor and community leaders to take a stand, the Dodgers had prepared a response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol raids<\/a> that triggered widespread protests \u2014 only to shelve the announcement as the team went public<\/a> with their refusal to let federal agents onto stadium grounds. A day later, on June 20, the Dodgers unveiled their plan<\/a>, centered on $1 million \u201ctoward direct financial assistance for families of immigrants impacted by recent events in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

In total, the Dodgers donated $1.1 million, representatives for California Community Foundation and Labor Community Services \u2014 the two nonprofits that received the funds \u2014 told The Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dodgers have been in L.A. for 68 years,\u201d said Joseph Tom\u00e1s McKellar, executive director of PICO California. \u201cThey\u2019re beloved among immigrant communities in a way that no other sports team is. That gives the Dodgers cultural and financial power in the region. We applaud what they did, but they could do even more by exercising leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

PICO California, the state\u2019s largest faith-based organizing network, was behind a petition delivered to the Dodgers, the contents of which were largely addressed by the team\u2019s $1-million commitment. But as the last of the money flowed to immigrant families in need in late August, another petition<\/a> circulated that demanded Dodgers owner Mark Walter<\/a> sell his \u201ccompany\u2019s stake in ICE jails and deportation flights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walter\u2019s massive investment firm, Guggenheim Partners, owned more than a million shares of GEO Group, valued at nearly $12 million. By the end of 2025, Guggenheim\u2019s interest in GEO Group had fallen to around 10,000 shares. And by the end of March of this year, Guggenheim no longer owned any shares of the prison company that also assisted in the deportation of immigrants, according to SEC filings reviewed by The Times.<\/p>\n

Walter also faced criticism over the partnership announced last year between Palantir Technologies and TWG Global \u2014 of which Walter is chairman and chief executive officer. Palantir provides AI and analytics software to ICE, tools the American Civil Liberties Union said<\/a> \u201cform the backbone for ICE\u2019s mass deportation regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are no indicators as to why Guggenheim Partners divested from GEO Group. The Dodgers declined comment. Guggenheim Partners did not respond to The Times\u2019 request for comment. GEO Group referred questions to Guggenheim Partners.<\/p>\n

In January, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, filed a federal lawsuit against federal officials<\/a> over the condition of the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County, a facility operated by GEO Group. In the complaint<\/a>, CHIRLA alleged \u201cdetained individuals face dangerous conditions and pervasive abuses \u2014 disease and illness are rampant, mold grows on the walls, and detained individuals are denied sufficient food, clean drinking water, proper medical care, and disability accommodations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald Trump\u2019s reelection<\/a> has been a major driver of profits for GEO Group. GEO Group founder, chairman and chief executive George Zoley said in a May earnings call the company was \u201cawarded new or expanded contracts that represent up to approximately $520 million in new incremental annual revenues, which represents the largest amount of new business we have won in the single year in our company\u2019s history.\u201d Former GEO Group exec David Venturella is the acting director of ICE.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really good to know [of the Guggenheim divestment],\u201d said Rabbi Susan Goldberg, a longtime immigrants rights activist and founder of Nefesh, a Jewish spiritual community in Echo Park. \u201cWe showed up so often at its [regional] headquarters in Culver City that they moved. We don\u2019t know where they are located in the area now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The California Community Foundation received $1 million, which worked with Los Angeles city officials to distribute $1,000 in direct relief to 1,000 households impacted by the immigration raids. The money was distributed through cash cards, according to the foundation. The Dodgers\u2019 gift amounts to a quarter of the $4 million the foundation has raised for its Los Angeles Neighbors Support Fund, $3.3 million of which has been \u201cdeployed to impacted communities with new investments continuing to roll out,\u201d according to the nonprofit.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers also donated $100,000 to Labor Community Services, a partner of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, that provided more than 4,000 families with food assistance with the team\u2019s donation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dodgers\u2019 generous donation has enabled us to reach and assist more families throughout Los Angeles County with dignity and compassion, providing critical food assistance at a time when it is needed most,\u201d Labor Community Services Executive Director Norma L\u00f3pez said in a statement to The Times.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Labor Community Services said no other pro sports team outside the Dodgers made a similar donation to help impacted immigrant families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Dodgers have a unique responsibility and they are an example of something we want to continue to see, especially as the World Cup and the Olympics come to L.A.,\u201d said Carlos Martin Rodriguez, director of organizing for L.A. Voice, a multifaith coalition that organized several vigils and demonstrations when the raids were at their height. \u201cI hope this wasn\u2019t a singular moment, but the beginning of a movement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dodgers\u2019 decision to deny U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents access to Dodger Stadium wasn\u2019t the way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[8142,1804,426,11772,1431,132875,115788,151282,3982,48,52,51,151283,47,50,49,17283,427,1791,95682,72],"class_list":["post-373098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-comment","tag-company","tag-dodgers","tag-executive-director","tag-family","tag-geo-group","tag-guggenheim-partners","tag-ice-jail","tag-immigrant","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-labor-community-services","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-response","tag-team","tag-times","tag-walter","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}