Will mom get detained? Is dad going to work? Answering kids' big questions amid ICE raids

By the time Josefina and her husband sat down to talk, the immigration raids had been going on for days, and protests over the federal actions had turned violent in parts of downtown Los Angeles.
At night, they could hear the helicopters from their Boyle Heights home.
The couple couldn't afford to put off the conversation any longer — fear was mounting over the potential separation of their family. Josefina's husband, a garment worker, is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.
When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers raided the Ambiance Apparel garment factory June 6, the couple's 15- and 19-year-old children had texted their father in a panic. He, too, works at a garment factory.
Should he go to work? That's what they had to hash out Tuesday night.
The couple was seated in the dining room. Their children were engrossed in a movie in the living room. The parents had not wanted their kids to hear the conversation — and figured they were out of earshot.
They weren't.
'Dad should just stay home,' the teenagers insisted.
And with that, the whole family was part of a difficult conversation. It was not how the couple had scripted it, but Josefina came to terms with keeping the kids in the know.
'I've done my best to shield them, but they have a lot of questions,' said Josefina, who like others in this report asked that she and her family not be fully identified over safety concerns. 'They're trying to understand what happens after this. So what I've been offering them is that this isn't how things are going to be forever, that there's power in community.'
Conversations like the one in Josefina's dining room are unfolding across the Los Angeles region, as families with undocumented members grapple with fraught questions pushed to the fore by the Trump administration's chaotic crackdown on what he has called a "Migrant Invasion."
Could mom be arrested? What happens if dad can't go to work? These and other queries are sparking excruciating — and potentially life-altering — discussions centered on planning for the possible deportation of a family member.
Parents are often conflicted about how much to tell their children — even when dealing with ordinary issues. But the intense anguish some feel at this moment has exacerbated the dilemma.
Child psychologists and counselors said children should be brought into the fold for these crucial conversations in age-appropriate ways. Doing so, said licensed clinical social worker Yessenia O. Aguirre, will help kids reckon with a moment suffused with anxiety.
"I would counsel people to have the conversations from early on," said Aguirre, who is co-developing a coloring book for parents to help them navigate fears and anxieties related to immigration. "Kids can know about real dangers and still have a joyous childhood. We don't have to protect our kids from things they are already going to hear from the news, social media, and from just going to school."
If there was ever a week in which children might have heard about issues related to immigration, it was this past one in L.A.
Aggressive sweeps by ICE were met with fierce resistance by protesters and others beginning June 6. A Home Depot in Paramount became a flash point after border patrol agents began massing there early on June 7. Eventually, the scene erupted, with demonstrators clashing with authorities, leading to multiple arrests. The episode was one of the triggers that led the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops to L.A. over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
ICE forays deep into neighborhoods have continued, sparking new outrage. On Wednesday, The Times reported that a 9-year-old Torrance Elementary School student and his father were deported to Honduras.
The cascading events have made it a profoundly uncertain time for immigrant families. And that can spawn anxiety, said psychologist Melissa Brymer, a director at the UCLA-Duke National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.
But there are, she said, simple actions parents can take to help children, such as organizing a comforting family meal or arranging for other relatives to check in on a youngster to increase their sense of security. Even asking kids if they are getting a good night's sleep can spark a wider discussion about how they are faring.
"Kids are usually willing to talk about it from a sleep perspective," Brymer said.
Crowded around the dining room table, Josefina and her husband told their children that they would decide whether he'd return to work by Friday.
Even though the kids were now part of the conversation, it was still going to be the adults' decision. They had to weigh the risk of a workplace raid and the husband's possible arrest against the financial implications of losing a vital source of income. The family was trying to save money to pay for a legal defense, Josefina said, should her husband be detained.
'We don't have the money to be like, 'Oh yeah, quit your job,'" Josefina said.
Until the teenagers overheard their conversation, Josefina hoped they knew enough to draw comfort from the family's plans. She said, for example, that the kids know what to do if ICE officers come to their house and which lawyers to call if their father is detained.
That, experts said, is the right instinct. Aguirre said that preteens and teenagers "pick up on our moods," and may understand more than parents realize. "They are sensing our anxiety, they are looking at our behaviors," she said. "They may want to listen in and see what's underneath if we aren't speaking up."
When broaching a tough topic, older kids should be given "space to vent," Aguirre said, and parents should resist the urge to immediately tell their children not to be scared or worry. Instead, they can empathize, telling them, "It makes sense — we are all so scared."
Parents can also convey that they have a plan, and clue the kids in on it. "At that age," Aguirre said of teenagers, "it is more of a family dynamic — where they are included."
Some scenarios — such as detainment of a parent — are dark. But kids should be made aware of them, Brymer said. "I think it's truly important that we talk to kids about potential separation," she said. "Kids are worried about that, and so let's make sure we talk it over with them. How may a potential separation impact them?"
As for Josefina's family, they decided that her husband — who immigrated from Mexico when he was in elementary school about 40 years ago — would return to work. "He decided, 'I still have a responsibility, and I still want to help provide,'" she said.
For their 15-year-old daughter, having a plan has made her feel safer.
'I feel like out of my whole family, I'm the least afraid of the stuff that's happening," she said. "I think it's because I have hope in our people in L.A.'
Read more: Fears of ICE raids upend life in L.A. County, from schools to Home Depot parking lots
Ana's son was set to graduate from eighth grade on Tuesday, and amid the ongoing ICE sweeps, her family had wrestled with whether to attend the celebration at his Mid-Wilshire area school.
Her husband is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. And she is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the 2012 policy that provides protection from deportation to immigrants without lawful status who came to the U.S. as children. The program has been the focus of a lengthy legal challenge and could eventually be ruled illegal.
Their 14-year-old son knew the stakes.
'He understands what's happening — that there are arrests,' Ana said.
Still, the family decided to attend the graduation. Even so, on the morning of the event, their son wanted to revisit the decision, asking his parents if they were comfortable with it. He even suggested they could watch the ceremony from home on a livestream the school had arranged.
'I told him, 'No, we're going to accompany you,'' Ana said. 'And we did. In the end it was worth it to be with him and applaud his successes.'
Read more: Graduation day at Maywood Academy High, where students are 98% Latino, 100% all-American
Experts could understand her decision. Maintaining a sense of normalcy — when it is safe to do so — helps kids stay on an even keel. Brymer recommends encouraging them to continue to go to school and summer activities if possible, and to participate in their typical social events.
'Kids do better with routines,' she said. "They should be allowed to play and interact.'
Aguirre, however, noted that children crave "a sense of safety and connection with loved ones" more than they desire a "sense of normalcy." She added: "It might not be the best time to keep that normalcy — that puts a lot of pressure on parents."
If attending a public event or milestone celebration presents a big risk, Aguirre said, parents might consider opting out, and making plans to ensure their presence is felt from afar.
"Prep the child ahead of time and say, 'We are not able to physically be there, but we are so proud of this accomplishment,'" Aguirre said. She said parents might tell their child, "We are going to ask [a friend at the event] to blow this whistle, and when they blow it, know that we are there."
"For eighth-graders, there would be heartache around not having parents there, but I can also imagine if anything were to happen, they would feel a lot of guilt," Aguirre said.
On the day of Ana's son's graduation, the school auditorium opened hours early, so that families did not have to wait on the sidewalk. But the celebration was bittersweet, she said. Fear was palpable among both the students and the crowd. And familiar faces were absent.
'It's a little hard to face sometimes,' Ana said. 'But at the same time we have to be with them in these important moments in life.'
Paige and her 8- and 11-year-old daughters stood in front of Long Beach Civic Center on Tuesday evening, alongside roughly 400 other protesters.
They chanted slogans near the Port Headquarters building amid signs and swirling American and Mexican flags. 'Seeking safety is NOT a crime,' one sign read. 'Humans are not illegal,' said another.
Read more: Immigration raids have shaken communities across Los Angeles County. How can you help?
The family isn't new to protesting. Paige and both daughters took to the streets in 2020 after George Floyd's murder sparked outrage. But this time the issue is personal: The girls' father is an undocumented Mexican immigrant.
'Now that it's impacting our family significantly, it's a bit harder for her,' Paige said of her younger daughter. 'She's fighting for her family.'
Paige is separated from the girls' father, and he lives elsewhere. It's been difficult for the kids to spend nights apart from him, she said. To allay their worries, he's stayed over a couple of nights. And attending the protest provided additional comfort, because it showed the children that they were part of a supportive community.
In times of crisis, giving kids the chance to express themselves by participating in the moment helps them process their feelings, Brymer said.
"People are out protesting because they love their culture, and they're trying to advocate for their rights and for rights of" others, she said.
But participating doesn't necessarily have to mean protesting, which may not feel appropriate for some, Aguirre said. Instead, children can help in other ways, such as helping to deliver groceries for a vulnerable neighbor, she said.
It's important, Brymer said, to acknowledge that children "really want to be those agents of change."
Sequeira reports for The Times' early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go to latimes.com/earlyed.
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

CNN

24 minutes ago

• CNN

Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker attacks was a ‘prepper' who had drafted a ‘bailout plan' for wife, according to court filing

The man charged in the killings of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband one week ago was a 'prepper' and had at some point given his wife a 'bailout plan' in case of 'exigent circumstances,' according to an FBI agent investigating the case. The term 'prepper' refers generally to someone who stockpiles materials and makes plans to survive some future disaster or doomsday event. In a newly unsealed affidavit obtained by CNN affiliate WCCO, FBI agent Terry Getsch wrote that Boelter and his wife were preppers and that Boelter's established 'bailout plan' instructed his wife to go to her mother's home in Wisconsin. The affidavit does not imply that Boelter's wife knew about her husband's alleged plans to attack the lawmakers, and she has not been charged with any crime. After last Saturday's shootings, Boelter's wife was pulled over by law enforcement 'while traveling with her four children to visit friends northwest of the metro area,' Getsch wrote. She consented to a search of their car, in which investigators found two handguns, passports for Boelter's wife and their children and about $10,000 in cash. During an interview, Boelter's wife said that she received a group text message from Boelter in a thread with their kids. 'Dad went to war last night … I don't wanna say more because I don't wanna implicate anybody,' one text from Boelter to members of his family read, according to a federal complaint unsealed earlier this week. The affidavit also revealed that at roughly 9 a.m. on Saturday, Boelter visited a bank in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and withdrew all $2,200 he had in a bank account in his name. A third party whose name is redacted in the affidavit drove Boelter from the bank. Boelter was driven to the bank by a person listed as 'Witness 1' in a previously unsealed court document, the same person who authorities say sold Boelter an electric bike and Buick sedan, which was found during the 43-hour manhunt last weekend. Authorities said earlier this week Boelter is believed to have carried out the attacks on lawmakers alone, but noted investigators would 'fully explore' to ensure that was the case. CNN reached out to the Brooklyn Park Police Department for an update on the investigation. Boelter, 57, faces both federal and state charges. Investigators found 'voluminous writings' in Boelter's home and car, but no clear manifesto has been uncovered, according to Acting US attorney Joseph Thompson. The notebooks contained the names of more than 45 Minnesota state and federal public officials, 'mostly or all Democrats,' according to the complaint. Some listed had ties to Planned Parenthood and the abortion rights movement. Boelter made his first appearance in federal court on Monday. He faces six federal charges, including murder, stalking and firearms offenses. He has not yet entered a plea and CNN has reached out to the federal public defender representing him for comment. Boelter is scheduled to appear in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota, for a preliminary detention hearing on Friday.

CNN

24 minutes ago

• CNN

The kings of Queens: Andrew Cuomo seeks restoration months after Donald Trump's

They are two men from the outer boroughs of New York – both with the Queens accent to prove it, each with his own distinctive rhythm – born of domineering fathers who chose their careers for them and made them righthand men. They revered their fathers but also saw them as not quite ready to do what it took to truly get ahead. One brought his father's real estate empire into Manhattan and turned it into a global brand. The other took his father's political mantle and built a career in both Washington and New York, winning three governor's elections of his own. Both revel in finding weakness and needling those they don't respect. Both can be abrasive, then charming a moment later. Both present themselves as forever underestimated. Both have faced a litany of scandals and been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women in allegations they both deny and dismiss as politically motivated. Both have small circles of ultra-loyalists and much longer lists of enemies who want them to fail. Now, seven months after Donald Trump won a second White House term that he presented as part vindication, part retribution, Andrew Cuomo is seeking his own restoration. Ahead of Tuesday's Democratic primary for New York mayor, Cuomo has centered his bid on the idea that he alone has the stature and experience to fight Trump. Their lives have intersected and crashed into each other for 40 years – over politics and policy, literal questions of life and death during the Covid-19 pandemic, but also personality and self-assurance that each knows better what their parties, and Americans, want. That worries some who have clashed with both. 'Seeing what I see from Washington, DC, which is only focused on retribution and revenge, there are a lot of similarities in certain people running for the mayor of the city of New York, and I don't need those same characteristics to be revealed in the office of the mayor or the city,' said New York Attorney General Tish James, a longtime Cuomo and Trump critic. For decades, they were competing Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon-sized personalities who made the motions of friendship to get what they really wanted. Trump recorded a video played at Cuomo's bachelor party warning him not to cheat. Nineteen years later, Cuomo was one of the guests watching Trump walk his daughter Ivanka down the aisle at her wedding to Jared Kushner. Over that time, Trump donated a total of $64,000 to Cuomo's campaigns. A few days after Cuomo won his third term as governor in 2018, he flew to Washington to have lunch with Trump, where the president greeted him like an old friend. Before walking out of the Oval Office grabbed Cuomo's arm and said, 'Hey Andrew, can you believe this?' The year that defined them both was 2020. As they faced off over immigration, Covid-19, racial justice protests and federal funding for the state of New York, Cuomo would return to the Oval Office for what would be the first of three in-person meetings, along with dozens of phone calls and quite a few tweets. A dozen aides to Trump and Cuomo revealed new details about those run-ins to CNN. They spoke on condition to anonymity to discuss private meetings. Those details may be the guide for what may be ahead if Cuomo becomes mayor and they inevitably meet again. The meeting started with a warm handshake, with the White House photographer right up close to get the smiles. 'You should sit here,' Trump said, pointing Cuomo to one of the chairs in front of the Resolute Desk, according to one person in the room. That morning before heading to the White House, Cuomo had accused Trump of 'extortion': The president was threatening to revoke 'trusted traveler' status for New York, which allowed for Global Entry speeding travelers through customs, if the governor didn't give the administration access to the state's driver's license database. Immigrants without legal authorization can get licenses in New York. Cuomo didn't want the database to be used for immigration raids, but he also didn't want to lose all the international travel business. In the meeting, Trump held up a sheet with three columns of states, arranged by color. All green were giving Trump all the information he wanted. Green and red were mixed. New York, Trump pointed out, was all red. He shoved the chart across the desk at Cuomo. Trump name-checked a few rich New Yorkers who didn't want to have their access to Global Entry shut down. 'It's good leverage,' he pointed out to Cuomo, according to the person in the room. 'You can do this, but we will sue you,' Cuomo told him. By the end, neither the president nor the governor had conceded anything, and aides to both thought they'd outmaneuvered and cornered the other. Trump slid a small stack of red MAGA hats toward Cuomo at the end, talking about his poll numbers and how great his re-election campaign was going to be. Cuomo glanced at them and did not pick them up. Eventually, the administration produced a memorandum of understanding that did not admit doing anything wrong but did back off the threats. A court reinstated 'trusted traveler' later that year. But within weeks, no one was traveling much at all. Trump was on the phone quickly after the first confirmed coronavirus cases hit New York. He had been yelling at rallies that the virus was a Democratic hoax, but to Cuomo, he was asking what the state needed, what he could do to help. Within days, their daily dueling briefings began. Cuomo liked the attention, the sudden nationalization that made him both a social media hero for locked-down liberals, driving Democratic speculation that he could sub in as the Democratic presidential nominee for a man already showing his age, then-former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuomo and Trump watched each other on TV. They went in front of cameras to respond to mock and undermine each other. Then they got on the phone and blew past whatever had been part of the show to talk about what they were going to do. Trump was giving Cuomo's team access to statisticians and academics trying to figure out what was happening. Cuomo was grateful, often telling aides who were running into problems that he'd walk into his office and call the president directly to get them cleared, enjoying being able to bypass what he'd felt was too many steps in dealing with the previous administration of Democratic President Barack Obama. When Trump toyed with blockading New York City, Cuomo wrote a New York Times op-ed with one reader in mind. Trump called him as soon as he saw it and talk of a blockade stopped. Cuomo felt like he was in the catbird's seat, his aides say, of being in a crisis needing something out of a president he was convinced he knew how to work. 'They both understood why each of them was taking the public approach and it didn't really bother them why the other one was saying what they were saying publicly,' a former state official told CNN. Cuomo and a few aides were back in the Oval Office two weeks later to ask for more help. Each state was being allocated 20,000 tests per day, and Cuomo felt the severity in New York should get their allocation boosted to 40,000. Going in, Cuomo had been amused that he and his aides had to test multiple times before seeing the president themselves. Trump was behind the desk again, Cuomo and aides in chairs in front. According to three people in the room, the president kept the conversation loose, armed again with charts and a marker to make points. Trump asked Cuomo if he'd seen the 'Bikers for Trump' rally that had just happened. He asked how Cuomo's mother was doing. Cuomo sat back, letting him go on before interjecting to bring him back to a specific ask. He even brought the president a bottle of New York-branded hand sanitizer. 'They always did that charm dance with each other because they were Queens brawlers,' one Cuomo aide at the time told CNN. Trump asked Cuomo how 'our hospitals' back in Queens were doing. Eventually he agreed to the extra tests, but not extra disaster aid Cuomo wanted too. Trump offered to put Cuomo on the phone with the doctor who'd treated then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had just recovered from coronavirus. On the way out, Cuomo and his retinue ran into Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to two people who saw the interaction. Cuomo asked about the disaster relief money, and when he heard it wasn't resolved, brought them back into the Oval Office. Trump, already back in his private dining room watching TV, came back in and agreed to the request. As they left, he gave Cuomo a few extra rapid testing machines they had in the White House for his own use. Cuomo aides convinced themselves that they were being strung along so that Trump would cajole Cuomo to join his own briefing that evening. Trump aides say that was never a possibility. They each did their own briefings after, Cuomo when he returned to New York. Two days after George Floyd was killed, Cuomo was back in the Oval Office. He wanted to get Trump thinking that more federal money for infrastructure projects could 'supercharge' the projects while giving Trump potential accomplishments for an ongoing re-election campaign that appealed to him personally and politically. The meeting did not go well – Trump came in incensed that the New York attorney general had subpoenaed his children and was convinced that Cuomo had orchestrated it, according to top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, who detailed the encounter in her book, 'What's Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics & Crisis.' But afterward, Cuomo went a few blocks over to the National Press Club in Washington and said it was a 'good conversation.' 'The president is from New York, so he has a context for all these things we're talking about,' Cuomo said. The money never arrived. They talked more when the summer of protests sparked by Floyd's murder began to grow violent in New York. Though things were never as intense there as in other parts of the country, Cuomo responded with a stronger hand than his rival, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, pushing de Blasio to establish a curfew, moving to send in state police and openly considering sending in the National Guard himself. A few weeks later, Trump was dangling the threat to send troops into more cities. Cuomo called him and told him not to. Trump told him to stop criticizing him publicly. Cuomo backed off. The troops never came. The relationship dissolved again later that summer, when Trump was furious about Cuomo's recorded speech to the Democratic National Convention. Far from the famous rallying keynote Mario Cuomo delivered against Ronald Reagan in 1984, it was still a call to action, and a call to kick out 'a dysfunctional and incompetent' Trump. The president spent the night tweeting furiously about 'the horrible governor.' Since Trump moved troops into Los Angeles two weeks ago to quell protests over immigration enforcement, Cuomo has repeatedly said that Trump didn't do that when he was governor and wouldn't do it if he were mayor. Trump aides question both claims, but Cuomo does have the 2020 parallel to point to. Trump has made clear he wants the operations in Los Angeles to be the first in a series of moves into blue cities. Cuomo has spent the closing weeks of his campaign leaning heavily into anti-Trump talk and warning about repeats of Los Angeles in TV ads, in mailed materials and in comments on the trail. Last month, when word leaked that the Department of Justice was stepping up its investigation into him for possible perjury in congressional testimony over his handling of Covid-19, he linked himself to other Democratic politicians the president has targeted. 'We know Mr. Trump, because this is Trump II. I was there for Trump I,' Cuomo boasted on Thursday at a stop. 'Don't ever forget that we beat Trump once. We're gonna beat him again.' Cuomo's opponents, meanwhile, have said he wouldn't stand up enough, and 'I think New Yorkers are hungry for a different kind of politics,' progressive challenger Zohran Mamdani began one campaign video standing outside of Trump Tower, drawing comparisons between the two of them. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is seeking reelection as an independent, and others say Cuomo is only running for to line himself up for Trump's current job in 2028. Cuomo, in turns, says his rivals aren't tough enough and recently suggested Trump would cut through Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman, 'like a hot knife through butter.' He argues repeatedly that his experience is a main reason to elect him. The president was asked in April about Cuomo. Aboard Air Force One, Trump claimed credit for helping New York during the pandemic before offering an apt summary of their relationship. 'I've always gotten along with him,' Trump said. 'We've had our ins and outs a little bit.'

Yahoo

29 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Arellano: Welcome to the deportation resistance, Dodgers. What's next?

For Dodgers fan, it's all about the moments on the field. Kirk Gibson's Game 1-winning World Series home run in 1988. Freddie Freeman doing the same last year. Koufax's four no-hitters. Fernandomania. Shohei Ohtani anytime he's at the plate or on the mound. Advertisement It's outside the baseball diamond where the team has usually stumbled. And right now, the team finds itself in the middle of an unforced error that they're trying to recover from. That's the best way to describe how the Boys in Blue have acted as the city emblazoned on their hats and road jerseys battles Donald Trump's toxic alphabet soup of federal agencies that have conducted immigration sweeps across Los Angeles over the past two weeks. Read more: Federal agents denied entry to Dodger Stadium parking lot: Here is what really happened They stayed quiet as rumors circulated that la migra was using the Dodger Stadium parking lot as a staging and processing area for their raids. They ignored calls for days by some fans and community leaders to issue a statement, any statement, in defense of immigrants. Advertisement After offering my my fellow Times columnist Dylan Hernández a "no comment," the team finally told our colleague Jack Harris on Wednesday that they planned to assist 'immigrant communities impacted by the recent events in Los Angeles' without offering details. Then they paused in light of Thursday's dramatic events, which saw the Dodgers dragged into a fight with the Trump administration over what actually happened when federal agents were spotted near the stadium that morning. The team posted on social media that they denied a request by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to 'access the parking lots.' 'False,' ICE blared on social media. The Department of Homeland Security chimed in to claim Customs and Border Protection agents just happened to be near the stadium gates 'unrelated to any operation or enforcement' — this, even as local television news footage showed a U.S. citizen caught earlier that morning at a Home Depot just up the 101 freeway being transferred from one unmarked vehicle to another. 'We'll get back to you soon with the timing' about how the Dodgers will help immigrants, president Stan Kasten told Harris Thursday. No, Stan. The moment is now. Federal agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on Thursday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) For decades, the Dodgers have gotten away with being the Flamin' Hot Cheetos of Major League Baseball – a corporate entity with an undue, even unhealthy following by too many Latinos. Each brand does little more than offer quick thrills to fans while taking their money, yet both have turned into markers of latinidad in Southern California à la lowriders and guayaberas. Advertisement The Dodgers have pulled this off even as they're the same franchise that refuses to put up any marker acknowledging that their home stands on the site where L.A. officials razed three barrios in the 1950s for a housing project that never materialized, then sold the land to the Dodgers for basically nothing. That didn't retire Fernando Valenzuela's number until the last years of his life. That will sell bland, overpriced tacos and micheladas at the stadium and not blink — hey, at least Flamin' Hot Cheetos are still cheap. They've put one arm around Latino fans while picking their pockets with the other for so long because they have been able to get away with it. Talks of boycotts over the years never worried executives because they knew other fans would quickly fill in any new seats. Fans booed while stadium security recently booted out attendees who brought signs to games decrying ICE, but Kasten and his crew knew no one would walk out in solidarity. All the Dodgers have to do is keep winning, stage an occasional giveaway night — wow, look! Another Valenzuela bobblehead on July 19! — or have organist Dieter Ruehle play a few bars of 'La Chona' and all is forgiven by too many too often. Sports teams have no obligation to take stances on the issues of the day and probably shouldn't. They're capitalist endeavors, not charity cases, whose stated mission is to provide bread and circuses to the masses while making as much profit as possible in the process. Social justice-minded followers too often willfully forget this. But they and the rest of us deserve to hold the Dodgers to a higher standard because that's how they have always marketed themselves. Advertisement They're the organization that broke baseball's color barrier with Jackie Robinson. That expanded the game's international reach with Valenzuela, Hideo Nomo and Chan Ho Park. That established baseball academies across Latin America and fostered a Latino fan base unlike any other in U.S. professional sports. Read more: Granderson: For Dodgers, the fight against racial injustice is driven by the past and present Besides, the Dodgers have waded into political morasses before. They played Robinson as Jim Crow still ruled the United States. They rightfully proclaimed 'Black Lives Matter' in the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020. The team in 2023 bestowed a Community Hero award to a drag troupe in the face of protests from conservative Catholics, although the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were relegated a ceremony held hours before the start of a game when the stands were nearly empty. Other immediate members of the Dodgers family heard the call to stand with L.A. early on. Valenzuela's daughter, Maria Valenzuela, told Fox 11 that her father 'would be really disappointed' with what's going on, adding, 'He pitched for every immigrant who believed they belonged.' Broadcasting Hall of Famer Jaime Jarrín decried on his Instagram account the 'injustices and heartbreak we've witnessed' and blessed all the peaceful protests that have sprung up in response, telling those who are taking to the streets: 'Do not be afraid. Stay strong. Keep showing up. Let your voice be heard.' Advertisement But the only current player who has said anything about Trump's raids — this, in a squad whose roster is chockablock with visa holders — is Kiké Hernández. The Puerto Rican-born journeyman posted on Instagram that he 'cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart." Guess his teammates are still too thrilled to have met Trump at the White House earlier this year to muster up the energy to say anything? On Friday afternoon, the Dodgers finally announced something: They would coordinate with the city of Los Angeles to commit $1 million in financial assistance to families impacted by Trump's raids, and promised aid to trusted L.A. institutions like the California Community Foundation to help in the matter. "We have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected," Kasten said in a statement. That's a good start — but I hope the team sees it as just a start. Trump has already promised that the same rage he's inflicting on L.A. will soon come to Chicago and New York, cities with large immigrant populations and their own historic baseball teams. That's why the Dodgers need to summon the moral courage of their past even more and once again set an example others want to follow. Advertisement The moment is now. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.