A few days ago, baseball players on a youth team from Venezuela were denied visas to enter the United States. The Cacique Mara Little League team comprised of 13- to 16-year-olds recently won the Latin American championship against Mexico. While this victory granted them entry to the Senior Little League World Series in Easley, South Carolina, the Trump Administration did not grant them entry into the country. Venezuela is currently one of more than a dozen countries from which travel to the United States is restricted or banned due to ongoing national security threats. According to the executive order, “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” is exempt from travel restrictions. Yet, Cacique Mara was still denied entry to the U.S. The Cardenales Little League team from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, is set to represent Latin America in the younger division of the Little League World Series. I guess we’ll wait to see if they will be granted visas, or if the 11-year-old players from Venezuela pose a threat as well. The international sports community will be tracking this issue closely, as matches during the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games will be held in the United States. If the Trump Administration is unwilling to follow its own executive order, what’s stopping them from banning athletes from any country for any reason in the name of national security?
What does this mean for Major League Baseball? Venezuelans make up a small but beloved group of players in the bigs. If the White House sees children with baseball bats as a threat, will they start to revoke visas from the pros as well?
In the history of Major League Baseball, a total of 461 Venezuelans have played at least one game for a major league club. 11.5% of these players have worn a New York Mets uniform. Regardless of the length of their stint or the greatness of their impact on the field, they are an inextricable part of New York Mets history.
Elio Chacón was an inaugural member of the New York Mets in 1962. Johan Santana gave his left arm for the team’s first (and only) no-hitter. We cried with Wilmer Flores when he thought he was being traded. We look to our manager, Carlos Mendoza, to lead us to our first World Series Championship since 1986.
If you care about baseball, the New York Mets, or human decency, you should care about this.
