Angel City shows support for immigrant community on Saturday night

A soccer match was played between Angel City FC and the North Carolina Courage on Saturday night.

However, Saturday’s match was about much more than soccer. With ICE Raids and the protests against them (with the “No Kings” rally in LA as well as across the country earlier in the day) going on across Southern California throughout the week,  Angel City went out of its way to show support for the immigrant community, as the team distributed shirts that on the front read “Immigrant City Football Club” and on the back read “Los Angeles is for everyone” in both English and Spanish.

“Of course it has influenced us and affected us,” Angel City defender Sarah Gorden said. “There’s been so many things this season that have affected us, but like I said before, we are all very proud to represent LA. We wore our shirts for the walkout and we really wanted to stand with the community.” 

The Angel City players and coaches wore the shirts on the sidelines during the match, the shirts were also distributed amongst the fans who attended the match and both messages were displayed on the scoreboard.

“We all feel so proud to represent LA and we’re grateful for every single supporter that comes out here, supports us and cheers us on,” Angel City midfielder Madison Hammond said. “It just makes it even more tough because we really wanted to put on a good performance, for everyone, for everything that everyone is going through right now.”

Also, Angel City investor and recording artist Becky G addressed the fans pregame with this message.

At Angel City, we believe in the power of belonging. We know that Los Angeles is stronger because of its diversity and the people and the families who shape it, love it, and call it home.

The fabric of this city is made of immigrants.

Football does not exist without immigrants.

This club does not exist without immigrants.

This is our home.

This is LA.

This is Immigrant City.