A Little League team from Venezuela was denied entry into the United States for the Senior League Baseball World Series, according to Little League International. The Cacique Mara Little League team from Maracaibo, Venezuela, was “unfortunately unable to obtain the appropriate visas,” Little League International said in a statement, adding that the decision was “extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.” Venezuela is one of several countries whose nationals are restricted or limited from travel into the U.S. under the presidential proclamation signed by President Donald Trump in June. Neither the White House nor the State Department immediately responded to an overnight request for comment. The team had qualified to compete in Little League’s Senior League Baseball World Series in South Carolina, which began Saturday, by winning the Latin American championship . The senior league division is for boys and girls ages 13 to 16, according to the league. The Venezuelan team traveled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply for their visas at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, the Associated Press reported. “It is a mockery on the part of Little League to keep us here in Bogotá with the hope that our children can fulfill their dreams of participating in a world championship,” the team said in a statement to the Associated Press . “What do we do with so much injustice, what do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?” Tournament organizers say they have since replaced the team with the Santa María de Aguayo team from Tamaulipas, Mexico, which was the runner-up in the Latin American championship, adding that this was to “ensure the Latin America Region is represented in the tournament and that the players, coaches and families from Mexico are able to have a memorable World Series experience.” The decision to bar the teenage athletes from entering the U.S. comes as the country prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. Though Trump’s travel ban restrictions include an exception for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State,” the Cuban women’s national volleyball team was also denied visas to enter Puerto Rico to compete in a tournament earlier this month. Immigration during Trump’s second term Trump’s aggressive crackdown: Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has made immigration enforcement one of his top priorities. He issued a series of executive orders that include declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, deploying hundreds of troops there and attempting to end birthright citizenship for the children of unauthorized immigrants and foreign visitors. The administration has also largely closed access to the asylum process on the southern border, suspended refugee resettlement and ended temporary humanitarian protections for thousands of people from countries including Venezuela, Honduras and Nicaragua. In March, Trump invoked the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act to remove Venezuelan migrants to a notorious jail in El Salvador without a court hearing. The administration has also removed migrants to conflict-ridden South Sudan . Data shows that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are increasingly targeting migrants with no criminal record . More resources diverted: Trump promised during his campaign to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally, and administration officials have directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to aggressively ramp up the number of people they arrest, from a few hundred per day to at least 3,000. To meet these goals, the administration has enlisted personnel from the FBI, U.S. Marshals, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In July, Congress passed a massive spending bill that will funnel nearly $170 billion toward border security and immigration enforcement. Those funds will allow the administration to hire nearly 20,000 immigration officers and double the number of beds available in immigration detention centers. Pushback in the courts: Advocacy groups and others have filed lawsuits over many of Trump’s policies. Thus far, the Trump administration has had mixed success in fighting challenges to its immigration agenda. The Supreme Court green-lit the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to remove temporary protected status for Venezuelans ; ruled that the Trump administration had illegally deported Kilmar Abrego García to El Salvador and ordered officials to “facilitate” his return; and most recently backed the president’s request to scale back lower-court orders that had for months blocked the administration’s ban on automatic citizenship for the U.S.-born babies of undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors. But the high court still has not weighed in on the merits of several of Trump’s most aggressive measures, including his use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants to El Salvador or the legality of birthright citizenship.