Bob Iger’s Angel City F.C. Has Something To Say About L.A. ICE Raids As Disney, Other Studios & Most Teams Stay Silent
As more ICE raids hit Los Angeles this Juneteenth holiday, the Bob Iger-owned Angel City FC has taken a stand for immigrants while most others have remained silent and afraid of the Donald Trump administration.
Less than a year after Iger and spouse Willow Bay dropped around $100 million to became the controlling owners in the $250 million-valued National Women’s Soccer League team, ACFC has come out in strong opposition to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in L.A. and waved the flag proudly for “Immigrant City.”
While individual stars and showrunners have been vocal in their opposition the past few weeks to cruel ICE raids in L.A. and Trump deploying thousands of troops in the City of Angels, studios, streamers, social media platforms, many sports teams and other Hollywood corporations have been as quiet as church mice. Today the feds have swarmed Dodger Stadium, but all the Dodgers organization has said so far on the attempted raid at their house is that it didn’t let ICE in.
However, just days ago, in a move backed by Iger (outside of his Disney CEO role), board boss Bay and other Angel City owners such as Eva Longoria, Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Jennifer Garner and Lilly Singh, supporter groups and the players, ACFC printed up 10,000 T-shirts with “Immigrant City F.C.” on the front and “Los Angeles Is For Everyone” on the back in English and Spanish for its June 14 home game.
(L-R) Mark Wilson Technical Director, Assistant General Manager, owners of Angel City FC Julie Uhrman, Natalie Portman, Willow Bay & Bob Iger at the NWSL match between Angel City FC and Seattle Reign at BMO Stadium on March 30, 2025 in LA (Photo by Meg Oliphant/NWSL via Getty Images)
Neither Iger or USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism dean Bay had a comment on that initiative for this report. Yet, sources say the usually controversy-adverse power couple were consulted through every step of the “Immigrant City” process in their ownership role. Iger and Bay also signed off on the measure, which is viewed within the organization as very much on brand for ACFC, I’m informed.
To be clear, Iger is not involved in the day-to-day management of ACFC. To that, the “Immigrant City” call was a multi-level decision within the organization and not Iger’s.
A frequent donor to Democratic candidates over the years and having rebuked Trump more than once in the past, Iger and Disney have been criticized this year for being seen as trying to buy the MAGA chief’s favor. Specifically, aside from the recent exit of Terry Moran from ABC News over posts lambasting Trump and top aide Stephen Miller, the backlash began for Disney after paying more than $15 million in December to end a defamation suit Trump had brought before he was elected over remarks that This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos made, saying Trump had been found “liable for rape.” What Trump was found guilty of was sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll over a vile department store incident decades ago. Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $90 million in damages, a judgment he has been appealing.
The settlement by Disney was one of the first but far from the last appeasement of Trump by a major media company since he won last year’s election.
In that greater context, the idea for “Immigrant City” emerged in near real time from the ACFC leadership, with the Bay-led board on board from the beginning on June 7, when the team hosted the Chicago Stars at BMO Stadium in downtown L.A. On that day, Trump escalated tensions in the city with the federalization of California National Guard troops for deployment in reaction to protests the day before against widespread ICE raids and detentions of the undocumented and even those with legal status. As the match with the Stars was ongoing, the team took to social media with a clear message:
A week later, on the same day millions participated in No Kings protests across the country, around 2,000 of the shirts were placed on supporters’ seats at BMO Stadium, with the remainder handed out to fans as they arrived for the match against the North Carolina Courage. It is unclear whether either Iger or Bay were at that game, when the shirts were distributed and pro-immigrant statements were made loud and proud.
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Getting orders from all across the U.S. over the past week, the shirts are also available for sale on the team’s website. “All net proceeds are being donated to Camino Immigration Services, ensuring that the campaign has a direct, positive impact on the community,” an ACFC spokesperson says. CIS’s mandate, according to the organization, is “to serve the immigrant community by providing quality legal counsel on immigration matters and connecting immigrant families to available resources.”
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On June 14, the entire ACFC team walked out on to the pitch wearing the “Immigrant City” T-shirts. Head coach Alexander Straus, who had been on the job for just two weeks that day, wore the shirt the entire match.
If that didn’t send a loud enough message, there was also a poem read aloud from the pitch by founding investor Becky G, who flew in from the East Coast for the occasion. “The fabric of this city is made of immigrants,” the Latin Grammy nominee proclaimed as the crowd read along with her from a postcard distributed before the match. Becky G added to cheers: “Football does not exist without immigrants. This club does not exist without immigrants.”
As you can see below, the singer concluded: “This is our home. This is L.A. This is Immigrant City.”
Iger and Bay have made no public comment on the club’s stance, but ACFC CEO and club co-founder Julie Uhrman was resoundingly and refreshingly clear-eyed about the stakes at play.
“This moment was one of the most powerful statements Angel City has made,” the former Lionsgate executive told Deadline with reference to the connection to their fans and community that has been at the core of the Natalie Portman co-founded team since the franchise was formed in 2020. “We’ve worked tirelessly to build a platform to support our community, grow women’s football, and advance equity. This was our opportunity to put that platform into action — and show the world we stand united.”
ACFC’s stance is in stark contrast to the muzzled hush from C-suite Hollywood, as some kiss the ring and others, like in the case of Skydance buying Paramount Global, bend over backward to seek a deal Trump. That’s in contrast to muted response at best from the Los Angeles Kings, Lakers, Clippers, Galaxy and other L.A. pro teams to the intimidation and arrest of member of their fanbases by the feds and the protests that have followed.
MLS pro soccer team LAFC put out a statement June 8, the day after Trump invoked an obscure statute to federalize the state National Guard for duty on the streets of L.A. Posted online in English and Spanish, the heavily Latino-supported LAFC said: “Today, when so many in our city are feeling fear and uncertainty, LAFC stands shoulder to shoulder with all the members of our community.”
LAFC’s public words are a world away from the reaction of defending World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have so far said nnothing as an organization, In addition, the team, whose fanbase is estimated to be 40% Latino, requested R&B star Nezza to not perform “El Pendón Estrellado,” the Spanish-language version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” at a June 14 home game. The singer, who was celebrated by the L.A. City Council on June 18, did it anyway and later posted video of Dodgers reps trying to talk her out of performing in Spanish. That move came as a fan decked out in team garb was escorted out of Dodger Stadium recently for brandishing a small anti-ICE banner as MAGA hat-wearers sat all around.
With rumors that the Dodgers organization may make a move this week to show support for immigrant communities, the Trump administration sent ICE agents to the team’s stadium today. The Dodgers have yet to say anything beyond the tweet they put up in the last hour about denying the federal agents access to their stadium complex at Chavez Ravine. The Shohei Ohtani-starring team certainly has not taken a strong position, even though as more militarized raids and ICE actions have been occurring in the Department of Homeland Security-targeted “sanctuary city” it was baseball fans and others who put themselves between the masked agents and the area.
Officially, as blue cities like L.A., New York City and Chicago are targeted by ICE and DHS, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom fights Trump in court, it is still radio silence from Disney, Universal, Netflix, Amazon and other studios and streamers, as well as major sports franchises and leagues.
