{"id":66669,"date":"2025-11-23T16:58:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T16:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/66669\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T16:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T16:58:11","slug":"rams-kobie-turner-highlights-immigrant-rights-via-cleats-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/66669\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams’ Kobie Turner highlights immigrant rights via cleats campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The immigrant experience holds special meaning to Rams<\/a> defensive end Kobie Turner<\/a> \u2014 his grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica and his wife\u2019s parents immigrated from Peru. When choosing an organization to highlight in the NFL\u2019s \u201cMy Cause My Cleats<\/a>\u201d campaign, he wanted to show support not only for his family but all immigrants as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of hard times as of late, a lot of families that are not sure what comes next and I just want to uplift them,\u201d Turner said. \u201cImmigrants are so important to America; they are the backbone to this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NFL\u2019s \u201cMy Cause My Cleats\u201d initiative started after Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall<\/a> was fined for violating the league\u2019s uniform policy when he wore cleats promoting Mental Health Awareness Week in October 2013.<\/p>\n

After criticizing the NFL for failing to support players and their charitable causes, he met with league officials and two sides created a campaign that allowed players to wear custom-designed cleats that highlighted an organization they support. Since 2016 the \u201cMy Cause My Cleats\u201d campaign has been a mainstay on the NFL calendar.<\/p>\n

With the immigrant community in Los Angeles and across the country dealing with raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a>, Turner wanted to meet the moment by partnering with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, an organization that advocates for the civil rights of immigrants and refugees.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams defensive end Kobie Turner\u2019s cleats for the NFL\u2019s 2025 \u201cMy Cause My Cleats\u201d campaign. The cleats support CHIRLA, an organization dedicated to the advance the human and civil rights of immigrants and refugees.<\/p>\n

(Los Angeles Rams)<\/p>\n

He is the only player in the NFL supporting an immigrant rights charity via the \u201cMy Cause My Cleats\u201d campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to do something to lend a voice to the immigrant community,\u201d Turner said, \u201cand I know that CHIRLA does a really good job of providing opportunities and pathways for citizenship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luis Tadeo, director of marketing and public relations of CHIRLA, understands the critical role sports and culture play in shaping the way that the community engages and heals in unprecedented times. He knows having the support of a star player on one of L.A.\u2019s biggest sports teams is a powerful statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that other players and other teams in Los Angeles, who have been silent during these moments, see Turner and the Rams as an example of what they could do for immigrant families,\u201d Tadeo said.<\/p>\n

Turner, 26, will wear the bright pink cleats when the Rams go for their sixth consecutive win Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> at SoFi Stadium. One of the stars of a Rams pass-rushing contingent that includes Byron Young, Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, Turner has 22 tackles and 1\u00bd sacks for an 8-2 Rams team that is among the favorites to win the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Bursting onto the NFL scene two years ago with an impressive nine-sack rookie campaign, Turner gained fame for an appearance on \u201cThe Masked Singer\u201d<\/a> last year, belting out notes befitting of \u201cThe Conductor\u201d nickname he earned while singing in college. Music and football played big roles in Turner\u2019s life while growing up in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Clifton, Va.<\/p>\n

\"Rams <\/p>\n

Rams defensive end Kobie Turner tries to break through the Baltimore Ravens\u2019 offensive line during a game on Oct. 12.<\/p>\n

(Terrance Williams \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Now he wants to give a voice to something that goes beyond football and singing \u2014 he wants to remind everyone that immigrants are an integral part of American culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look around and you see \u2018Vamos Rams,\u2019 the communities that we serve are immigrant communities,\u201d Turner said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to be able to lend a voice to those people and let them know that they are being heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Turner, his charitable efforts go beyond this weekend. On Tuesday, Turner, Rams staff members and cheerleaders, in conjunction with South L.A. nonprofit A Place Called Home<\/a>, will serve meals and distribute 400 turkeys and Thanksgiving supplies to families in need. Turner also will perform with 29Live, the youth band of A Place Called Home, during the event.<\/p>\n

CHIRLA members will attend Sunday\u2019s game with a group of immigrant youth. In a time when federal agents are detaining and arresting immigrants across the U.S.<\/a>, Tadeo hopes Turner and his cleats will help promote change.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is to achieve a just society fully inclusive of immigrants, and whether that\u2019s on the football pitch, if it\u2019s in the halls of Congress, if it\u2019s at the White House making decisions on laws that will impact the lives of immigrants, we need all of the support,\u201d Tadeo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The immigrant experience holds special meaning to Rams defensive end Kobie Turner \u2014 his grandfather immigrated to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[39724,39722,1431,949,3982,39725,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,39723,752,1768,9442,11706,31703,2281,10605],"class_list":{"0":"post-66669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-chirla","9":"tag-cleat-campaign","10":"tag-family","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-immigrant","13":"tag-immigrant-right","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-la-headlines","16":"tag-la-news","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","19":"tag-los-angeles-news","20":"tag-los-angeles-times","21":"tag-luis-tadeo","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-organization","24":"tag-player","25":"tag-ram","26":"tag-turner","27":"tag-u-s","28":"tag-voice"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66669","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=66669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}