Youman Wilder, the founder of Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy, is being called a hero for stepping up and protecting his players against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents when they approached the kids during a practice session, NBC News reports.
The incident took place July 3 at Riverside Park in Manhattan’s Upper West Side when Wilder said he saw ICE officers storming the grounds. He said he didn’t make much of it until they approached his players and started to ask them questions about where they were born and where their parents were from. “I heard them saying, ‘Where are you from? Where are your parents from?” Wilder remembered.
“And I just stepped in and said this is very inappropriate to ask these kids anything … I’m just going to have them implement their Fifth Amendment right, and not say anything to you.”
The coach, who has a Master’s degree in law, said one of the agents raised his voice and called him “another YouTube lawyer.” But Wilder calmly responded, saying, “No, I just know how the Constitution works.”
While admitting that a number of his players’ parents come from countries such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Africa, and South America, his young middle and high school players are American citizens. “Their kids were born here. They have the 14th Amendment entitlement to live here,” he said.
Wilder labeled his players as “tough” and reached out to lawmakers to address ICE harassment. Unfortunately, since the incident, several of his players have not returned to practice due to fear. “I got some tough New York City kids, so for them to be scared, it means something is really happening,” Wilder said. He remembers reassuring his team that he wouldn’t let the agents get through him. “I just said to myself, ‘I’m willing to die to make sure you get home. ‘” Doubling down, saying, “I’m willing to die today.”
Running the youth baseball program for the past 22 years, people in the neighborhood know Wilder well, as he views the sport as a tool that teaches important life lessons. “Baseball is life. You start at home, and we’re going to send you out. And it’s going to be hard for you out there. But you could make it easier for yourself swinging at strikes to get to first base,” he said, according to The New Yorker.
“And how can we get you to second and third? You can do things quicker, sharper, crisper. All those things get you around. Same thing in life.”
As the team consists of a majority of Black and Latino players from tough NYC neighborhoods like Washington Heights, Dyckman, the South Bronx, and parts of Queens, the kids deal with gangs, often at risk of being beaten up. Now, with the risk of being stopped by immigration officials, the coach reminds them that baseball is a great way to deal with another life hurdle. “I tell the kids, you have to use your baseball. How do you get from first base to third base without getting thrown out?”
ICE agents have been seen in numerous diverse neighborhoods of America’s metro cities, questioning and arresting those they deem “illegal and dangerous” immigrants. While an ICE spokesperson claims the agency “has not conducted any recent enforcement activity in the vicinity of Riverside Park,” Wilder says officers identified themselves as ICE agents by being armed and wearing camouflage uniforms.
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