Little League Team Denied Entry to U.S.: Canary in Coal Mine for Int’l Youth Sports?

You may have seen the news about the Venezuelan Little League Baseball team being denied entry to the United States to compete in the 2025 Senior League Baseball World Series (SLBWS). Cacique Mara Little League won the Latin American Championship earlier this month to punch their ticket to the tournament in Easley, South Carolina. However, the team was denied access due to the Trump administration’s travel ban. 

Though plenty of competition will be present in the tournament, American players don’t gain any advantage when they aren’t able to face the world’s top talents. Could this lead to future incidents where the world’s best players aren’t allowed to compete in the U.S.? 

Though not as well known as the Little League World Series, The SLBWS is the highest level of Little League competition, with players aged 13-16 participating. The competition began on July 26, and it will culminate in a championship game on August 2.

Cacique Mara is based in the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela, and it applied for U.S. Visas in Bogotá, Colombia. The team expressed disappointment in a statement to the Associated Press on Friday.

“It is a mockery on the part of Little League to keep us here in Bogotá with the hope that our children can fulfill their dreams of participating in a world championship,” the team said in a statement. “What do we do with so much injustice, what do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?”

Venezuelans are the second-most represented nationality in Major League Baseball, with 63 active players, according to Major League Baseball.

The nation has sent nearly 500 players and managers to the show, per Baseball Reference, including World Series-winning manager Ozzie Guillén, seven-time Silver Slugger Jose Altuve, and former World Series MVP Salvador Perez. Rising Milwaukee Brewers prospect Jackson Chourio is also a Cacique Mara alum. 

Runner-up Santa Maria de Aguayo, from Tamaulipas, Mexico, replaced Cacique Mara. 

Coquivacoa, another team from Maracaibo, won the tournament last year, and international teams have won six of the last ten Senior League World Series titles.

Entry Denied  

Earlier in July, members of the Cuban Women’s Volleyball National Team were denied U.S. Visas to compete in Puerto Rico for an international tournament. The Cuban National Team has won a number of international competitions, including three Olympic gold medals. 

Khaman Maluach, the 10th overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, could also potentially be impacted by the ban. As a native of South Sudan, Maluach would likely be unable to return to the United States if he were to leave the country, and new U.S. visas are not currently being extended to any of his countrymen. 

With all eyes on the United States for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the policies of the current administration could impact international competition before the upcoming major sporting events. 

However, FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino brushed off concerns about international travel to the World Cup with comments he made in late June about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) having a presence at the event. 

“No, I don’t have any concerns about anything in the sense that we are very attentive on any security question,” Infantino said. Of course, the most important [thing] for us is to guarantee security for all the fans who come to the games. This is our priority.” 

As of Tuesday, Illinois’ Burbank American Little League and Puerto Rico’s Amelia Baseball Club Little League lead the SLBWS standings, each with a 2-0 record. The event continues this week.