Singer at Dodger Stadium sings national anthem in Spanish in protest against L.A. immigration raids
Los Angeles is home to a reported 1.8 million Spanish-speaking residents but rarely do they hear the national anthem sung in that language.
On Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, with 51,548 fans on their feet and television cameras trained on the field, Vanessa Hernández stood behind home plate and sang the national anthem, which is traditionally sung before every sporting event in the United States.
Only this time, it was different.
Known to fans by the stage name, Nezza, the Dominican American singer took the mic at Dodger Stadium and performed ' El Pendón Estrellado,' the official Spanish-language version of 'The Star-Spangled Banner' — apparently against the wishes of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Wearing a shirt adorned with the flag of her family's homeland, Hernández's voice quivered with emotion as she reached the final line, her eyes welling with tears. But her defiance was clear.
As she later shared on her TikTok, a Dodgers staff member had explicitly told her, 'We are going to do the song in English today.' She didn't answer her, but then she let her singing do the talking, performing the anthem in Spanish. "I just felt like I needed to do it, para mi gente," (for my people), she explained on TikTok.
'My parents are immigrants,' she said. 'They've been citizens my whole life at this point, but I just can't imagine them being ripped away from me. Not now. Not when I was a kid. Never.'
Nezza's Spanish-language rendition took place after a wave of Immigratio n and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids have been impacting Latino communities in Los Angeles, leading to protests and more outcry after President Donald Trump sent National Guard troops and Marines in the city. One of the state's U.S. senators, Democrat Alex Padilla, was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a news conference after confronting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with a question about the recent actions in Los Angeles.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has pleaded for federal forces to back down. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has called the raids 'a humanitarian disaster.'
During Saturday's game, when Nezza turned the anthem into an act of protest, many of the fans in attendance didn't know what to think. Some clapped and cheered, others stood with their mouths agape. Others turned to social media to let the world know what was happening, and Nezza's decision was met with mixed reviews.
'These people are evil,' one user wrote about Nezza's act of protest.
'They should've cut off her mic and apologized to their audience. This kind of inaction, might push away a lot of Dodger fans,' wrote another.
'Has her legal status been checked? DEPORT HER!,' someone else wrote.
But the reviews weren't all negative. Many people applauded Nezza's courage and bravery.
'Her courage is palpable. So proud of her,' one user wrote on X.
'I'm obsessed with her! That was beautiful,' another wrote.
'Awesome,' said a user, summarizing the performance in one word.
While Nezza was stirring up controversy with her rendition of the anthem, Shohei Ohtani was turning baseballs into souvenirs: The reigning National League MVP hammered two home runs — his 21st and 22nd of the season — leading the Dodgers to an 11-5 rout of the archrival San Francisco Giants. The win catapulted Los Angeles into sole possession of first place in the NL West.
But for many people there, it was Nezza's voice, not Ohtani's bat, that stole the night.
Following Nezza's Spanish-language rendition, the Dodgers didn't issue a statement, and they had made no previous comments about the immigration raids and protests taking place in the city.
Though the Dodgers haven't banned Nezza — and sources say they don't plan to — she joked online, 'Safe to say I'm never allowed in that stadium ever again.'
That might not be true, but her performance had an impact and some of the players responded publicly.
Veteran utility man Kiké Hernández wrote on Instagram, 'I'm saddened and infuriated. Our community is being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart,' referring to the immigration raids.
Adrián González, the beloved former first baseman and now broadcaster, called the raids 'unconstitutional' on Instagram and wrote "separating families without cause, profiling individuals due to the color of their skin is not right. It needs to stop."
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