Did ICE try to enter LA Dodgers’ stadium?

Lucy Gilder

BBC Verify journalist

I’ve spent the morning trying to get to the bottom of a, external spat on X, external between the LA Dodgers baseball team and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Dodgers claimed on X that “ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry”.

ICE’s response was: “False, we were never there”. This exchange on X has been viewed 25 million times since yesterday.

The US Department of Homeland Security oversees ICE and another immigration enforcement agency called CBP (US Customs and Border Protection).

The Department said on X, external that CBP vehicles were “very briefly” in the car park but were not carrying out enforcement activities.

We’ve verified a video showing protesters shouting “ICE out of LA”, external at federal agents standing near the stadium. ICE’s activities in the Los Angeles area earlier this month were followed by several days of unrest.

We zoomed in on images of the agents and examined their badges. While they share some similarities with images of ICE badges – which we found online – they appear to be a match for those worn by CBP agents (the shape of the eagle at the top, for example).

Some of the agents in the images are not wearing badges or any identifying clothes, but the ones who are appear to be CBP and not ICE agents.

We asked the Department of Homeland Security what the agents were using the parking lot for but they did not provide any more details.