‘I’m willing to die,’: New York Baseball coach defends kids from ICE agents during little league

A youth baseball coach from New York City, Youman Wilder, is receiving a lot of attention after he stepped in to protect his team when armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers reportedly came up to and questioned his players during practice in Riverside Park last month. Wilder, who has a master’s degree in law, made sure his players’ constitutional rights were respected. He says all of them are U.S. citizens.

The situation happened on July 3 while Wilder, the founder of the Harlem Baseball Hitting Academy, was coaching middle and high school students. He said he saw six armed ICE officers in uniform, whom he recognized from past encounters in Washington Heights, walk by before going straight up to the kids. Wilder told AOL that the officers started asking the children “where they’re from” and “who their parents are.”

Realizing the questions were out of line, especially when parents aren’t around, Wilder quickly got involved. “I told my kids to move to the back of the cages, right here, and I said they’re going to use their Fifth Amendment rights, they’re not going to say anything,” Wilder explained. He claims one of the officers got angry and called him a “YouTube lawyer.” Wilder stood his ground, saying, “No, I just know how the Constitution works.”

ICE Agents Thwarted by Baseball coach who’d do anything to protect his players

Wilder also said the agents kept “changing the goalposts,” meaning they kept shifting their reasoning. At one point, they talked about charging him with “obstruction of justice” and even suggested they might handcuff him. They also asked why the kids, if they were “here legally,” would have anything to lose by answering questions. Wilder repeated that no matter their citizenship status, everyone has constitutional rights, including protections under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. He said, “It’s all about civics. If you don’t know your rights, they will trample on them.”

The coach confirmed that all 11 children involved in the incident are U.S. citizens, though their parents come from countries like the Dominican Republic, South America, Mexico, and Africa. He made it clear that they have the right to live in the United States under the Fourteenth Amendment.

CNN interviewed Wilder, who said he told the kids, “I’m willing to die” for them. This likely meant that he’d do whatever it took to defend them, as ICE is well known for officers assaulting others to get their way, including pregnant citizens.

After Wilder firmly stood up to them, the agents finally left the park. Wilder said he was disappointed that no other adults nearby stepped in to help. He said, “The only way you can protect people is understanding that the Constitution has a role. And we have to rely on that. And we can’t cherry-pick it.” He also shared his concern that mostly Latino schools in the area could be the agents’ next target.

The event has deeply affected the team. Since it happened, only one child has come to practice at a new location and time. Wilder, who has been coaching for more than 20 years, believes you shouldn’t need a law degree to know your rights and said something like this “could happen to anybody.”

This incident comes at a time when reports say there has been a “rapid increase” in immigration arrests in the New York City area. Since May, ICE has reportedly been focusing on immigrants with no criminal record, which matches President Trump’s plan for large-scale deportations. HuffPost has contacted ICE for a statement but has not yet gotten a response.