MLBPA chief says foreign players told to carry documentation to 'keep their job'

Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark told members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) on Tuesday ahead of the All-Star Game that he and his office are keeping immigration top of mind with the league's large foreign presence.

Roughly 28.6% of MLB players on Opening Day rosters (over 220 of the 265 foreign-born players) were of Latino descent.

Amid Donald Trump's presidency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have cracked down on illegal immigration. Because of this, Clark said his office has told players to "carry their documentation wherever they go… to ensure guys are in the best possible position to get to the ballpark and keep their job."

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"We're… trying to put them and equip them in the best position possible to navigate the atmosphere that we're in in regards to immigration," Clark said, according to a video taken by Our Esquina. "We communicate with our players, we told them to carry their documentation wherever they go, we ensure the lines of communications are open, such that if they are having an issue or a family member is having an issue, how best can we help support them?

"We've got immigration council and immigration lawyers on staff to provide support in a way that we have in the past, but not to the extent that we do now, in order to assure guys are in the best possible position to get to the ballpark and keep their job. 

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"It is complicated, it is challenging on multiple levels, but we continue to communicate with our guys and assure them whether they're at the minor league level or at the major league level, this is how best to protect yourself in the nearest term in carrying the documentation while having an open line of communication is what we've found has worked so far."

Law enforcement was spotted outside of Dodger Stadium last month. They were initially believed to be, and claimed by the Dodgers to be, ICE, which prompted protesters at the site. But in a statement of their own after ICE's denial, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said, "CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly," and it "had nothing to do with the Dodgers."

The Dodgers said the agents had "requested permission to access the parking lots" and were denied. But an ICE spokesperson said in an email to Fox News Digital, "ICE was never at Dodgers stadium, and thus never tried to gain access."

The vehicles on stadium grounds were "unrelated to any operation or enforcement," a CBP spokesperson said in a statement.

Days after the incident, the Dodgers pledged $1 million to aid families impacted by the immigration arrests.

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Hegseth abruptly pulls Pentagon officials from 'globalist' Aspen conference

Secretary Pete Hegseth pulled senior Defense Department officials from the Aspen Security Conference for promoting the "evil of globalism." 

Military commanders were set to speak at the conference, which begins on Tuesday, as has been tradition through Republican and Democratic administrations. 

But Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson told Just the News the secretary’s office believes the conference "promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States."

Wilson added that DoD "has no interest in legitimizing an organization that has invited former officials who have been the architects of chaos abroad and failure at home." 

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The forum will host other Trump administration officials: Adam Boehler, presidential envoy for hostage response, and Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Syria. 

It will also hear from some contentious Biden administration officials – Jake Sullivan, former national security advisor, and Brett McGurk, a former National Security Council coordinator. 

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Mark Esper, Trump’s former acting defense secretary, and David Petraeus, who was briefly CIA director under President Barack Obama, will also be speaking, along with Condoleezza Rice, a national security advisor and secretary of state during the Bush years. 

"Senior Department of Defense officials will no longer be participating at the Aspen Security Forum because their values do not align with the values of the DoD," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. 

"The Department will remain strong in its focus to increase the lethality of our warfighters, revitalize the warrior ethos, and project Peace Through Strength on the world stage. It is clear the ASF is not in alignment with these goals."

The Aspen Institute said in a statement on the Pentagon withdrawal: "For more than a decade, the Aspen Security Forum has welcomed senior officials – Republican and Democrat, civilian and military – as well as senior foreign officials and experts, who bring experience and diverse perspectives on matters of national security."

"We will miss the participation of the Pentagon, but our invitations remain open."

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