Trump admin reverses course and grants some visas to Venezuelan teams to compete in Little League World Series

Yahoo

11 hours ago

A pair of Venezuela Little League teams were able to score last-minute exceptions to play in Little League World Series tournaments in the U.S. despite the Trump administration's travel restrictions on the South American nation, which appeared to snare another Venezuelan team last month from competing.
Those accepted include a Barquimesto, Venezuela, team from the Cardenales Little League, which will represent Latin America in the 2025 Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the league confirmed.
'Our children's dream is going to come true soon,' the team wrote in Spanish on Instagram on Friday. 'Williamsport here we come.'
Another team, from the city of Valencia, secured permission to play in an older age division in the Little League Intermediate Tournament in Livermore, California.
'We are grateful for all those who supported these players throughout this process, including the U.S. Department of State,' Little League International told The Independent in a statement.
Venezuela is among the nations named in the Trump administration's June proclamation restricting and in some cases banning travel from certain nations the White House says fall short of vetting standards or have high rates of visa overstays.
While the policy contains an exception for athletes playing in major international tournaments like the World Cup or Olympics, it reportedly took the intervention of top federal officials to get the Venezuelan teams to the U.S. tournaments.
Trump ally Senator David McCormick of Pennsylvania reportedly helped convince the administration to grant the Little Leaguers exceptions, a decision that ultimately required personal sign-off from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
'I am thrilled my team and I were able to play a small role in making sure young athletes are able to chase their dreams and participate in this timeless Pennsylvania tradition,' McCormick said in a statement to The Athletic.
The Independent has contacted the State Department and the U.S. embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, which handles consular issues relating to Venezuela, for comment.
A third Venezuelan team, which qualified for the Senior League World Series, announced in July it had been unable to secure its visas.
'The players are demoralized,' Cacique Mara wrote in a statement in Spanish on social media at the time. 'The only thing that they know is baseball. They want to go to compete and put the name Venezuela and Latin American on high. They don't represent any threat, they are 15-year-olds that want to win the world series.'
The team shared that its denial may have been related to a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act related to preventing the entry of terrorists and national security threats.
The White House claims the Venezuelan government is in league with the Tren de Aragua gang, which it considers a hostile foreign entity invading the country, justifying emergency restrictions like the use of the Alien Enemies Act, even though U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly disagree.
The visa issues come as the U.S. is set to see a major influx of foreign athletic teams seeking entry to the country to play in the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.