Nationwide — Youman Wilder, an African American youth baseball coach from New York, says he had to protect his young players when ICE officers approached them during practice. He claims the officers tried to question the kids, who are all U.S. citizens, but ICE denies the incident happened.
Wilder, who leads the Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy, said the encounter happened on July 3 near Manhattan’s west side. As practice wrapped up, he noticed about six uniformed officers walking toward the field where his players were gathered.
According to Wilder, the agents began asking the children where they were from and how old they were. While many of the kids have family roots in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Africa, and Central America, Wilder said every child on his team is an American citizen.
Acting quickly, Wilder told the kids to move behind the batting cages and stay quiet. He positioned himself at the only entrance to block access.
“There’s only one way to get into the cage, so my whole thing was I can control that,” he told ABC 7 NY. “I was in front of the entrance and that’s when I just said, you know, ‘I may die here, but they will not take one of these kids.’”
Wilder holds a law degree and said the officers mocked him during the standoff, calling him a “YouTube lawyer.” He added that the encounter left many of his players shaken and afraid to return to practice.
Meanwhile, ICE released a statement denying the account. The agency said no enforcement activity took place near Riverside Park on the date Wilder mentioned.
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