Members of the Southwest Area crew from Boerne, Texas, and the Latin America Area crew from Barquisimeto, Venezuela shake handsafter Latin America received the Little League World Collection Comfort Sport 4-3 at Howard J. Lamade Stadium on Aug. 25, 2024, in South Williamsport, Pa.
Dylan Buell/Getty Photographs
cover caption
toggle caption
Dylan Buell/Getty Photographs
The Senior League World Collection championship, for Little Leaguers ages 13 to 16 from all around the world, is performed at the moment in Easly, South Carolina. However the Cacique Mara crew from Maracaibo, Venezuela could not compete. They received the Latin American qualifier rounds in Mexico final month, however had been denied journey visas to the USA.
President Trump signed a proclamation in June to ban or partly ban residents from 19 international locations together with Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela from coming 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’s not clear why an immigration officer denied journey visas to this crew of Venezuelan kids. A State Division spokesperson informed us, they’ve “a policy to grant national interest exceptions to qualified travelers participating in these types of sporting events on a case-by-case basis. Due to the additional processing time required, we recommend that applicants apply well in advance of their anticipated travel date.”
After all, a baseball crew taking part in 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, stated in a press release that his gamers are “…demoralized. All they know how to do is play baseball. They don’t represent any threat; they are 15-year-old kids who want to win the World Cup.”
Not permitting this group of younger athletes to return to the U.S. for a significant sporting occasion raises some questions:
Will Iran’s glorious nationwide soccer crew actually be permitted to play 2026 World Cup soccer video games within the US? Will athletes from Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and different listed international locations 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, had 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 difficult to grasp.
What you see is a gaggle of kids from Venezuela who’ve been denied the possibility to return to America to play their hearts out in a recreation they love.
