A New York City baseball coach, Youman Wilder, made headlines after bravely confronting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who approached his young players during a practice on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in Riverside Park.
Wilder, the founder of Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy, described the agents, who were armed with guns and tasers, asking his players about their country of origin. He quickly instructed his team to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights, reminding them that as U.S.-born children, they were entitled to live in the country under the 14th Amendment, even if their parents were from the Dominican Republic, South America, Mexico, or Africa.
In an interview with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace , Wilder said, “This is very inappropriate to ask these kids anything,” and stepped in front of them. The agents responded dismissively, calling him “another YouTube lawyer”. An assemblywoman who brought the incident to public attention warned that Wilder was “the only thing that stood between those kids in Riverside Park and a Florida detention center buried deep in the Everglades”.
Wilder expressed his disbelief and dismay, stating, “I never in my life thought this is going to happen on the Upper West Side in New York City.” Despite his efforts to protect his players by moving practice locations and times, only two out of a usual 20 to 25 players have returned to practice.
Choking up, Wilder also voiced his deep disappointment in the bystanders at the crowded park, whom he described as “cowards” for not intervening. An assemblywoman who brought the incident to public attention, Linda Rosenthal, told Eyewitness News that Wilder was right to intervene and had the legal authority to do so. Watch full video here.
