Portland, Ore.– PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — “Push!” “Shut up!” “Good ball!”
While the volunteer soccer coach was shouting motivational words, one of his players pushed the ball past the opposing team’s goalkeeper and into the net, prompting the crowd to erupt in cheers.
This was the scene on Sunday in Portland, Oregon, during a soccer tournament that the organizer called The Championship World Cup For migrant and refugee girls. Community advocate Som Subedi, an immigrant from Bhutan, created the event to help provide a sense of joy and unity amid federal immigration enforcement operations that have impacted players’ families.
“ICE and federal enforcement must be out of our parking lots, out of our football stadiums, and most importantly, out of fear in our hearts and minds,” Subedi said during the opening ceremony, using the acronym for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Subedi belongs to Lhotshampa, a Nepali-speaking ethnic group It was targeted by Bhutanese authorities in the early 1990s. He lived in a refugee camp in Nepal for years and arrived in Portland in 2008, eventually becoming an American citizen.
“This is more than just a competition. This is more than just football,” he told the Associated Press. “We make this a community event so they feel appreciated and welcome.”
Fears of federal immigration enforcement have gripped youth sports across the country.
Last fall, the Oregon Youth Soccer Association announced the cancellation or rescheduling of several games in Portland due to concerns about immigration agents in the parks. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. A youth baseball coach in New York City intervened when ICE agents approached his team during practice, WABC-TV reported this last July. He was a high school student in Massachusetts He was arrested by immigration agents On his way to practice volleyball last May before they are released.
Immigration enforcement operations, led by President Donald Trump’s administration, surged in the Pacific Northwest last fall, approaching the historic high seen in the first Obama administration. According to the data Issued by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights. In Oregon, the spike saw nearly 1,200 people arrested from October to December.
The ICE Building in Portland was the location Ongoing protests Due to the US administration’s campaign against immigration since last June, including months Night demonstrations. Federal officers’ use of chemical munitions like tear gas to disperse crowds in the building is the subject of two lawsuits filed by Nearby residents and Protesters in a rowwhich is currently before A Federal Court of Appeal.
Some of the tournament’s players – aged between 10 and 18 and whose families come from countries from Mexico to Somalia to Myanmar – have been directly affected by the crackdown on immigration. Valeria Hernandez, 15, said her brother was deported to Mexico late last year.
“I collapsed at that moment. I was really sad,” she told the AP, choking up. “He was my best friend.”
The training became more difficult, as her brother accompanied her on her trips. She said he was her main inspiration to play football, adding that she sent him a photo from the tournament before her first match.
“He was so passionate about this, so I wanted to be just like him,” she said.
At the opening ceremony, Valeria, her mother and her younger sister were presented with brightly colored scarves as a symbol of support as they struggle with the deportation of their loved ones, with whom “they deserve to be united,” Subedi said.
Subedi himself recounted how his daughter, 11, was afraid to go to soccer practice after immigration agents were reported near her school last winter. He explained to her that he had his real ID and passport, but she was still nervous, he told the AP.
“I had to calm her down, so she went into training, but not without fear as well,” he said.
To help create a sense of safety at the tournament, officers from two police departments and a local immigrant rights group were present. At times, officers were seen at the edge of the park speaking with attendees, or in their patrol car in the parking lot. Under Oregon’s sanctuary law, local police are prohibited from assisting in federal immigration enforcement.
Subedi said the departments had committed to appearing in a supportive role, and “their presence helped families feel protected, not watched.”
He added that the presence of a crowd of supporters and families also contributed to the safe atmosphere.
“When there is a sense of community support for these girls, I think it creates that sense of belonging, that sense of security,” he said.
Israa Al-Nabulsi, who arrived in the United States from Syria in 2012, said it was exciting not only to watch her 13-year-old daughter play, but also to see people from different cultures and religions come together.
“We really have to come together to confront everything that’s happening right now in Oregon and other states,” she said.
There was also solidarity between the players. Subedi said some girls who did not come from immigrant families wanted to participate in the tournament, and were accepted because the event was open to everyone.
Thanks to donations, the tournament – including T-shirts and cleats – is free for the girls, who are divided into six teams. Some teams represented specific communities and groups, such as the Karen people in Myanmar and the African Refugee Migrant Organization. The teams that won first and second place received prizes.
Dozens of people signed up to volunteer, including referees and coaches.
Sergio Medel was a volunteer coach for a team that included his 16-year-old daughter. He has been playing professionally in Mexico and has coached at various levels in the United States since arriving in 1997.
“I hope that when they leave here, they feel like saying, ‘Hey, we’re not alone,'” he said.
As the most played and popular sport in the world, football has a way of bringing diverse communities together Similar football tournaments for immigrants organized in the United States in recent years.
Subedi, who has loved playing football since he was a young child, described it as a game where “there is no need for language”.
“You just get together and play,” he said.