(LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA) Summer football usually pulls teenagers out of cramped apartments and into the open air at Contreras Learning Center, a public school a short drive from MacArthur Park. This year, coaches say fear is keeping kids indoors. After ICE raids swept through the neighborhood on July 23, 2025, players stopped showing up, parents stopped asking about game schedules, and a season that once felt like a ladder to college now feels like a risk.
Immediate local impact: attendance and atmosphere
Manuel Guevara, the football coach at Contreras Learning Center in Los Angeles, said more than 20 players skipped summer practices in the days after agents appeared near the park in armored vehicles, wearing tactical gear, with some officers on horseback. “Parents were texting me, telling me their kids can’t come outside,” Guevara said, describing families who feared a traffic stop or a random check could lead to deportation.
When the first official practice arrived, only 43 students came, down from the “low 50s” he said he normally expects.
Coaches’ observations across schools
The fall schedule has not even started, but coaches say the mood has already changed.
- Michael Galvan, a coach at nearby Roybal, said he is hearing the same worry from families who once brought younger siblings and grandparents to games.
- Kenneth Daniels, a coach at Belmont, said some parents now ask whether they can watch from their cars, or if the team can avoid certain routes home.
In immigrant-heavy neighborhoods, the simple act of walking to a field has turned into a debate about safety.
Direct consequences for students and teams
For some students, the fear is not abstract. A 17-year-old Contreras cross-country athlete, Nory Santoy Ramos, was detained and deported to Guatemala with her mother after an immigration appointment near the school, according to people at Contreras. The case has rippled through teams that share hallways, buses, and locker rooms.
Teammates have asked whether:
- practice sign-ins,
- game-day ID checks, or
- a coach’s attendance list
could bring attention they do not want.
Broader pattern in 2025: enforcement and participation
These stories in Los Angeles reflect a broader pattern in 2025, with heightened immigration enforcement linked to lower participation in youth sports and other school activities. Families choose staying home over being seen.
The pullback reaches beyond games into:
- weight rooms
- after-school tutoring
- summer camps
- everyday routines that keep teenagers connected to adults who can spot trouble early
Schoolwide effects and enrollment data
The worry has shown up in school numbers. Los Angeles Unified School District, which serves more than 400,000 students, has seen an enrollment drop of 16,000 students that Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho linked to raids.
Carvalho said some families avoid enrolling their children when they fear being noticed. Coaches describe secondary effects:
- fewer students trying out
- fewer parents joining booster clubs
- fewer volunteers running snack stands and rides
Federal stance and advocacy responses
Federal officials say enforcement actions have a public safety aim. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended lifting earlier ICE restrictions on raids at schools, saying the change was needed for safety from criminal activity.
Immigration advocates respond that the price is paid by children who did nothing wrong. Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, said kids are the ones who “pay the price” when enforcement ramps up around daily life, including school.
Resources for families: rights and official guidance
Families trying to make choices in this climate often ask what rights they have when agents arrive near a campus or a bus stop. Federal guidance changes over time, but the government’s public materials explain how immigration enforcement works and what agencies do.
- DHS keeps an overview page on immigration enforcement at DHS.gov.
- Lawyers often tell parents to read official sources before trusting rumors passed through group chats.
Similar effects in other cities
Arizona
– The same anxiety has spilled onto fields and into protests.
– Jonathan Bojorquez, a soccer player at Agua Fria High School, joined a student demonstration in June 2025 and linked sports to the future he wants:
“For a lot of us, sports aren’t just a game. They’re our future… It’s hard to play when you’re always worried,” Bojorquez said.
– A Phoenix Union district official, Rodriguez, said parents have pulled students from schools because they fear separation.
Chicago
– After Operation Midway Blitz launched on September 8, 2025, and authorities arrested more than 800 undocumented immigrants, educators reported a jump in absences.
– Tactics that included tear gas near elementary schools and raids in Black neighborhoods left children shaken, said Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union.
– Fedrick C. Ingram, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers, described children as traumatized by what they saw.
Youth sports as an early warning system
Coaches and teachers say youth sports function as an early warning system: when players vanish, something is wrong at home, or in the streets, or both.
At Contreras, Guevara worries about:
- injuries going untreated
- grades slipping
- kids drifting toward older groups that do not care whether they graduate
He has tried to keep his phone open late so parents can ask questions without leaving a written trail. He also tells students that the locker room is still a place where adults will listen, even if they cannot solve everything.
School responses and community reactions
Schools are trying to respond visibly. Los Angeles school police plan to add supervision for athletes starting August 14, 2025 (the start of the school year) and again on August 22 (the date of the first Contreras game), according to reporting.
- The extra presence is meant to reassure families and keep order around pickup areas.
- For some parents, more uniforms mean more stress, even when the badges are local and not federal.
In New York, soccer coach Francisco Guerrero has focused on giving immigrant youth steady routines — a contrast to the whiplash of sudden raids, missed practices, and hurried moves between relatives’ homes. People close to teams in several cities say that steadiness matters because sports often gives students one reliable adult besides a parent. When that structure breaks, the damage spreads into sleep, grades, and mental health.
Research and downstream effects
Researchers have begun to quantify what coaches see. New 2025 studies found student performance declines in southern California and in a large Florida county during enforcement surges.
Key consequences include:
- Academic slide feeding back into sports eligibility
- Missed seasons translating into missed chances to be seen by recruiters
- Effects extending beyond families without papers — U.S. citizen children in mixed-status homes also stop showing up when a parent is scared
An analysis by VisaVerge.com noted that the impact reaches both undocumented families and citizens in mixed-status homes.
Recruiting and athletic futures
Recruiters do not need a full stadium, but they need athletes on the field. Several Los Angeles coaches said players who miss weeks of conditioning can fall behind, costing them:
- starting spots
- in some cases, the chance to chase scholarships
Coaches also said rumors travel faster than facts after ICE raids, so one arrest in a parking lot can empty a practice across the district within hours.
Closing: staying open and available
On the grass at Contreras, the team is still trying to act like a team. Players who do show up run drills and talk about college, even as they scan the street when a loud engine passes.
Guevara said he cannot promise families that enforcement will not return to MacArthur Park, but he can promise he will keep calling, keep checking, and keep the door open for any student who wants to come back tomorrow.
Raids by ICE near MacArthur Park in July 2025 have reduced youth sports participation across Los Angeles. Contreras coaches reported many absences, including more than 20 missed practices and only 43 students at the first official session. A 17-year-old athlete was detained and deported, intensifying fear. LAUSD attributed a 16,000-student enrollment decline to enforcement. Schools are adding supervision and resources, while advocates warn of lasting academic, mental health and recruitment consequences.
