Members of the Southwest Area group from Boerne, Texas, and the Latin America Area group from Barquisimeto, Venezuela shake handsafter Latin America received the Little League World Sequence Comfort Sport 4-3 at Howard J. Lamade Stadium on Aug. 25, 2024, in South Williamsport, Pa.
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Dylan Buell/Getty Photos
The Senior League World Sequence championship, for Little Leaguers ages 13 to 16 from everywhere in the world, is performed at the moment in Easly, South Carolina. However the Cacique Mara group from Maracaibo, Venezuela could not compete. They received the Latin American qualifier rounds in Mexico final month, however have been denied journey visas to the US.
President Trump signed a proclamation in June to ban or partly ban residents from 19 nations together with Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela from getting into the U.S. for nationwide safety considerations. However there have been exemptions for athletes collaborating within the World Cup, the Olympics, or different main sporting occasions as decided by the secretary of state.
It isn’t clear why an immigration officer denied journey visas to this group of Venezuelan children. A State Division spokesperson informed us, they’ve “a coverage to grant nationwide curiosity exceptions to certified vacationers collaborating in these kind of sporting occasions on a case-by-case foundation. Because of the further processing time required, we advocate that candidates apply effectively upfront of their anticipated journey date.”
After all, a baseball group enjoying in a championship match cannot apply for a visa till they’ve received a spot in that match.
Kendry Gutiérrez, president of the Cacique Mara Little League, mentioned in an announcement that his gamers are “…demoralized. All they know the way to do is play baseball. They do not symbolize any risk; they’re 15-year-old youngsters who wish to win the World Cup.”
Not permitting this group of younger athletes to return to the U.S. for a serious sporting occasion raises some questions:
Will Iran’s glorious nationwide soccer group actually be permitted to play 2026 World Cup soccer video games within the US? Will athletes from Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and different listed nations actually be given visas to compete on the 2028 Summer time Olympics in Los Angeles?
Two different Little League groups from Venezuela, one from Valencia, one other from Barquisimeto, have been granted visas.
Worldwide sports activities competitions are sometimes saluted for selling respect throughout all boundaries. And so the choice to not give visas to those youngsters from Cacique Mara is tough to grasp.
What you see is a bunch of kids from Venezuela who’ve been denied the possibility to return to America to play their hearts out in a recreation they love.
