ICE agents requested permission to use Dodger Stadium parking lots and were denied, team says

LOS ANGELES -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were seen staging near Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium on Thursday morning amid reports of more raids being conducted throughout Los Angeles County.

Dozens of federal agents in SUVs and cargo vans, most wearing tactical gear with their faces covered, gathered near the Gate E entrance in Elysian Park before heading out to various locations in the area.

Local elected officials told ABC7 that Los Angeles City Council District 1 workers alerted the LAPD of the staging near the stadium. The police department then notified the Dodgers organization.

The Dodgers released a statement on X, saying, "This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight's game will be played as scheduled."

A small group of federal agents were still at the location shortly after 11 a.m. local time.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez arrived at the scene shortly after 10 a.m. and expressed frustration that the agents had not departed.

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"We've been in communication with the mayor's office, with the Dodgers, with Dodgers security, about seeing if they can get them moved off their private property," she told our sister station, ABC7 Eyewitness News in Los Angeles, in an interview. "Public property is different. Private property -- businesses and corporations have the power to say, 'Not on my property,' And so we're waiting to see that movement happen here."

The agents' presence attracted several dozen protesters, prompting Los Angeles Police Department officers to form a skirmish line that separated the activists from the area where the ICE personnel had gathered. The gathering remained peaceful as of noon.