California volleyball team with trans player stays undefeated in league play, in first place amid forfeits

A transgender volleyball player in California has helped lead a girls' high school team to an undefeated start in league play and first place, as multiple opponents have forfeited.

Jurupa Valley High School's girls' volleyball team improved to 6-0 in league play to cement its place at the top of the River Valley League standings with a win Friday over Rubidoux. 

The win also pushed the team's overall record to 14-8 on the season. However, eight of the team's wins, including one of its six league play wins, came via forfeit. The eight teams that have forfeited games to Jurupa Valley this season have not provided a direct reason, but it is believed they are in response to the trans athlete AB Hernandez. 

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The most recent team to forfeit was Patriot High School, which was the one league rival to forfeit to JVHS and also the first team within the same school district to do so. 

Jurupa Valley is scheduled to face Patriot again on Oct. 13. 

Meanwhile, two of Hernandez's teammates have also stepped away from the team this season in protest, and have filed a lawsuit against the Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD) over their experience playing with Hernandez over the last three years. 

Jurupa has just five games left in the regular season, including the second Patriot meeting, before the postseason starts. 

Last November, while Jurupa Valley went on to win their league, another high school in California saw a postseason match forfeited. Stone Ridge Christian High School forfeited a semifinal playoff match to San Francisco Waldorf, which had a trans player on its girls' volleyball and girls' basketball team. Stone Ridge Christin directly cited the trans athlete as the reason for the forfeit to San Fracisco Waldorf. 

"Unfortunately, we were just informed that our opponent, San Francisco Waldorf, has a male athlete playing for their team," the team said in a statement. 

INSIDE GAVIN NEWSOM'S TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL CRISIS

"At SRC, we believe God’s Word is authoritative and infallible. It is Truth. And as Genesis makes clear, God wonderfully and immutable created each person as male or female. We do not believe sex is changeable and we do not intend to participate in events that send a different message. We also have a duty and responsibility to care for the health and safety of our athletes. So after consulting with our students, coaches and staff, we have made the difficult decision to forfeit Saturday’s game. Standing for Biblical truth means more than the outcome of a game." 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office recently provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing the state's influx of controversies involving transgender volleyball players, suggesting the situation falls outside of his responsibility, and deferring fault to the California Department of Education (CDE), California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and state legislature. 

"CIF is an independent nonprofit that governs high school sports. The California Department of Education is a separate constitutional office. Neither is under the Governor’s authority. CIF and the CDE have stated they follow existing state law — a law that was passed in 2013 and signed by Governor Jerry Brown (not Newsom) and in line with 21 other states. For the law to change, the legislature would need to send the Governor a bill. They have not," the statement read. 

The CIF and CDE are currently being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for refusing to change its policies allowing biological males to compete in girls' sports. 

On April 1, the California state Legislature blocked two bills that would reverse the current law which allows males in girls' sports. 

Every Democrat voted against it, with Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur arguing that one of the bills "is really reminiscent to me of what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. We are moving towards autocracy in this country. In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life." 

Zbur said this while in the presence of a descendant of a holocaust survivor, who had to excuse herself from the chamber, according to GOP Assembly member Kate Sanchez. 

"She stood up and left because she was just so disgusted with the comparison," Sanchez told Fox News Digital. 

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Trump administration offers teen migrants $2,500 to leave US voluntarily: reports

The Trump administration is now offering teen migrants a $2,500 stipend to leave the United States voluntarily, according to several reports citing a letter sent Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement to shelters housing migrant children.

According to the letter seen by Reuters and other outlets, the department will provide a "one-time resettlement support stipend of $2,500" to unaccompanied children 14 or older. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not confirm the monetary amount to Fox News Digital but said Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) could access financial support when returning home, should they choose that option.

TRUMP ADMIN REPORTS 2 MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS 'REMOVED OR SELF-DEPORTED' FROM US IN FIRST 8 MONTHS

"Any payment to support a return home would be provided after an immigration judge grants the request and the individual arrives in their country of origin," Emily Covington, assistant director of ICE’s Office of Public Affairs, said in a statement. She said the offer was first being made to 17-year-olds. 

Covington said that cartels had trafficked countless unaccompanied children into the United States during the Biden Administration, and that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and HHS have been working diligently to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those children.

"Many of these UACs had no choice when they were dangerously smuggled into this country," she said. "ICE and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement at HHS are offering a strictly voluntary option to return home to their families."

Minors from Mexico are not eligible for the program, but children who had already volunteered to leave the U.S. as of Friday would be covered, the letter reportedly says.

The Associated Press reported that some immigration advocates had warned of a broader removal campaign they called "Freaky Friday." 

ICE rejected that claim, with Covington calling it "categorically false" and saying the phrase was fabricated to "instill fear and spread misinformation that drives the increased violence occurring against federal law enforcement."

The move is part of President Donald Trump’s campaign promise of carrying out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.

ICE DETAINERS IN TOP SANCTUARY CITY HAVE SKYROCKETED UNDER TRUMP COMPARED TO BIDEN'S 4-YEAR TERM: DHS 

Last month, DHS said that two million illegal immigrants "have been removed or have self-deported" from the United States since Jan. 20, putting the Trump administration on pace to break records.

In less than 250 days, an estimated 1.6 million illegal immigrants voluntarily self-deported, while 400,000 were removed by federal law enforcement, the DHS said, describing the situation as a "new milestone."

In May, Trump signed an executive order establishing the first-ever self-deportation program that incentivizes illegal migrants to voluntarily leave the country on a free flight and with a cash bonus.

Homeland Security said that migrants were being offered a $1,000 stipend each to leave. The department said it is 70% cheaper for American taxpayers, as it currently costs DHS, on average, over $17,000 to arrest, detain and deport someone.

In June, the State Department moved $250 million to DHS for voluntary deportations.

Shaina Aber, the executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, a nonprofit that provides legal defense to immigrants, said in a statement that the $2,500 stipend undermines due process and may expose children to renewed trafficking cycles.

She said some of these children were trafficked into the U.S., often by cartels or smugglers, and if they are sent back without safeguards, they could fall back into the hands of the same traffickers.

"DHS’s message is confusing and seems to fly in the face of established laws and protocols that Congress passed to protect children from cyclical trafficking risks," Aber said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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