Good Lord. I’m a gringo who can understand some Spanish when it’s close enough to the French I learned in school. But I would damn well listen to Nezza’s heartfelt 90 seconds that I’ll bet were far more moving and less drawn out than the cringeworthy versions inflicted at most MLB games. Roseanne Barr’s quickly comes to mind. And all those would-be Mariah Careys’ deconstructions!
Point is, she probably put more feeling into her vocal. I can respect her version for the reason she chose to deliver it in Spanish.
And the Dodgers of all teams! Signer of Jackie Robinson with the most international player legacy of any MLB team, perhaps any long-lived.professional sports franchise.
Let’s see if they live up to their word next year.
I detest Trump, MAGA, Miller and the brutality, randomness, cruelty, racism and periodic illegality the Trump administration exhibits towards all immigrants. But there is a difference between legal and illegal immigration (and I'm including the hundreds of thousands of technically legal immigrants who crossed the southern border seeking asylum, but may or may not actually meet the requirements for asylum under US immigration law, and remain in the US for years while awaiting an asylum hearing). We need sane immigration laws that reflect the obvious need for legal immigration and deal with the large number of illegal immigrants currently in the US in a rational manner. As noted in today's NY Times, net immigration into the US is running at about 450,000 people a year under current policies. That is well below the 2-3 million a year who came in under the Biden administration, but the share of the US population that is foreign born hit 14.8 percent in 2024, a high not seen since 1890! But in 1890 most of those immigrants were legal-the US was encouraging immigration because cheap labor was needed as the US industrialized on a massive scale. Could the US have continued to absorb 2-3 million immigrants per year as took place under Biden? I doubt it. We need sane immigration policy and enforcement. Accordingly, I have mixed feelings about the message the Nezza episode is sending: is it pushback against the cruelty of the Trump administration against Latino people? I certainly support that. But if it is a call to ignore the difference between legal and illegal immigration, I have issues with it. I suspect this comment will incur the wrath of some Bulwarkers, but so be it.
Biden set up a bi-partisan committee to reform immigration and they came up with the strongest set of reforms in 35+ years that would have made a huge difference. It was widely supported by Dems and Rs, until Trump told Rs to vote it down because he wanted to run on immigration. And so it was voted down. What our country truly cannot sustain is spending $Billions on private goons to run around kidnapping brown people, sending them to privately operated (but paid by us) prison camps, and sent to 3rd party countries for who know how many $Billions in backroom agreements. Republicans will never "reform" immigration because they need it as a wedge issue. And MAGA wing wants a white nation, so there's that.
I agree with much of what you have said, but frankly it's not germane to my point. It's been widely reported that Biden and his team failed to grasp how much the immigration issue was negatively impacting the perception of his presidency until much too late. And of course Trump and the Republicans are hopeless. But it remains unclear to me what the message was that Nezza was trying to convey, and how it will be viewed by those Biden to Trump and Biden to couch voters that enabled Trump to be reelected. I'm interested in defeating Republicans at all levels, not performative vibes. Messaging matters, and Democrats cannot win if they are perceived as weak on immigration enforcement. Optics matter. The scenes of asylum seekers at the border under Biden played right into the Republican "the border is out of control" narrative. How will Nezza's decision to sing the national anthem in Spanish (after she was explicitly told not to by the Dodgers management) play out with the voters needed to beat the Republicans? I don't know, but it concerns me.
I don't think Biden failed to grasp it, he just didn't have support for changing it. Republicans controlled Congress.
If your point was about Nezza (although you spent most of your words on immigration), I think it was a wonderful act of civil disobedience. Interesting that it was not covered very much by our MSM.
There's been extensive reporting about the Biden administration's failure to grasp how much the southern border problems hurt it. See, e.g., https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/us/politics/biden-immigration-trump.html#:~:text=Yet%20as%20public%20concern%20over,of%20Mr.%20Biden's%20immigration%20programs. There were things he could have done by executive order, but the administration feared pushback from the progressive wing of the party. I "spent most of [my] words" on immigration because the Nezza incident and immigration policy (including deportation) are inextricably linked. We can agree that Nezza's actions were an act of civil disobedience. She doesn't seem to be paying any price for it thus far. Whether the Democrats will pay the price after the Republicans use it as another wedge issue remains to be seen.
If you've spent any time in California or the south-west, someone speaking or singing in Spanish is just a natural part of the fabric of the culture. Which is the point of this article. It doesn't have anything to do with immigration, or "ignoring the difference between legal and illegal immigration". It's about entire communities of Americans being terrorized by their own government because they have brown skin, or for the sin of speaking Spanish.
I completely understand that speaking and/or singing in Spanish is part of the culture. But I completely disagree with your assertion that the point of the article has nothing to do with immigration. The lead in for the article is "She [Nezza] sang the national anthem in Spanish as deportation forces assaulted L.A." Deportation is inextricably linked to the immigration process, as was Nezza's choice to sing in Spanish.
Many years ago, I was a teacher in an elementary school in the heart of Los Angeles. My students, 2nd graders, were all Spanish speaking and most were recent immigrants. One of the things I emphasized with them was that Spanish was an American language, a language to be proud of and to keep as they learned English, another American language. I hope it made a difference for them.
More needs to be said about the cost of ICE and detention. The net indicates that over 71000 are in detention at a cost of $150 - $200 per day. - over a million per day. The workers in detention may use hospital ER's and social services but Steven Miller is wrong about their cost to society in relation to the daily cost. But then the richest like their investment in Corecivic and GEOgroup as well as Palantir - all finance by BlackRock and Vanguard. These workers are needed on farmers and in the hospitality and construction industries - at a minimum - and they have contributed taxes and social security they will not claim. More than 65% of the voters do not support the administration's funding of detention and ICE. All of the world is laughing at us and Trump as he proclaims how great we are to halt immigration. Our Congress is much too corrupt, and Bondi, Noem, Patel, SCOTUS and the Federalist Society lawyers
The biggest, richest corporations are nearly all failing us in this moment. Big law firms failed. Universities largely failed. Individuals are resisting. If we ultimately win, we are going to have to reassess what power means, and who deserves it.
What a powerful moment it was. As a huge Dodger fan, I was disappointed to hear that they asked Nezza not to sing in Spanish, but she did the perfect thing in ignoring the ask. It didn't take the Dodger management long to see that. For a team whose history is full of great Dominican and other Hispanic players and FANS, it seems a bit tone deaf to suggest English only. Especially in the current environment. And, let's get real, the bond between all Latino people and this country is immeasurable. Every voice should rise, no matter the language!
I had not heard this story, how refreshing!! Thankfully, not everyone obeys in advance, just the ultra-wealthy CEOs and Universities.
Good Lord. I’m a gringo who can understand some Spanish when it’s close enough to the French I learned in school. But I would damn well listen to Nezza’s heartfelt 90 seconds that I’ll bet were far more moving and less drawn out than the cringeworthy versions inflicted at most MLB games. Roseanne Barr’s quickly comes to mind. And all those would-be Mariah Careys’ deconstructions!
Point is, she probably put more feeling into her vocal. I can respect her version for the reason she chose to deliver it in Spanish.
And the Dodgers of all teams! Signer of Jackie Robinson with the most international player legacy of any MLB team, perhaps any long-lived.professional sports franchise.
Let’s see if they live up to their word next year.
Nezza, you did good.
Dodgers? Not so much.
This was a nice story, thank you for sharing 😊
I detest Trump, MAGA, Miller and the brutality, randomness, cruelty, racism and periodic illegality the Trump administration exhibits towards all immigrants. But there is a difference between legal and illegal immigration (and I'm including the hundreds of thousands of technically legal immigrants who crossed the southern border seeking asylum, but may or may not actually meet the requirements for asylum under US immigration law, and remain in the US for years while awaiting an asylum hearing). We need sane immigration laws that reflect the obvious need for legal immigration and deal with the large number of illegal immigrants currently in the US in a rational manner. As noted in today's NY Times, net immigration into the US is running at about 450,000 people a year under current policies. That is well below the 2-3 million a year who came in under the Biden administration, but the share of the US population that is foreign born hit 14.8 percent in 2024, a high not seen since 1890! But in 1890 most of those immigrants were legal-the US was encouraging immigration because cheap labor was needed as the US industrialized on a massive scale. Could the US have continued to absorb 2-3 million immigrants per year as took place under Biden? I doubt it. We need sane immigration policy and enforcement. Accordingly, I have mixed feelings about the message the Nezza episode is sending: is it pushback against the cruelty of the Trump administration against Latino people? I certainly support that. But if it is a call to ignore the difference between legal and illegal immigration, I have issues with it. I suspect this comment will incur the wrath of some Bulwarkers, but so be it.
Biden set up a bi-partisan committee to reform immigration and they came up with the strongest set of reforms in 35+ years that would have made a huge difference. It was widely supported by Dems and Rs, until Trump told Rs to vote it down because he wanted to run on immigration. And so it was voted down. What our country truly cannot sustain is spending $Billions on private goons to run around kidnapping brown people, sending them to privately operated (but paid by us) prison camps, and sent to 3rd party countries for who know how many $Billions in backroom agreements. Republicans will never "reform" immigration because they need it as a wedge issue. And MAGA wing wants a white nation, so there's that.
I agree with much of what you have said, but frankly it's not germane to my point. It's been widely reported that Biden and his team failed to grasp how much the immigration issue was negatively impacting the perception of his presidency until much too late. And of course Trump and the Republicans are hopeless. But it remains unclear to me what the message was that Nezza was trying to convey, and how it will be viewed by those Biden to Trump and Biden to couch voters that enabled Trump to be reelected. I'm interested in defeating Republicans at all levels, not performative vibes. Messaging matters, and Democrats cannot win if they are perceived as weak on immigration enforcement. Optics matter. The scenes of asylum seekers at the border under Biden played right into the Republican "the border is out of control" narrative. How will Nezza's decision to sing the national anthem in Spanish (after she was explicitly told not to by the Dodgers management) play out with the voters needed to beat the Republicans? I don't know, but it concerns me.
I don't think Biden failed to grasp it, he just didn't have support for changing it. Republicans controlled Congress.
If your point was about Nezza (although you spent most of your words on immigration), I think it was a wonderful act of civil disobedience. Interesting that it was not covered very much by our MSM.
There's been extensive reporting about the Biden administration's failure to grasp how much the southern border problems hurt it. See, e.g., https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/us/politics/biden-immigration-trump.html#:~:text=Yet%20as%20public%20concern%20over,of%20Mr.%20Biden's%20immigration%20programs. There were things he could have done by executive order, but the administration feared pushback from the progressive wing of the party. I "spent most of [my] words" on immigration because the Nezza incident and immigration policy (including deportation) are inextricably linked. We can agree that Nezza's actions were an act of civil disobedience. She doesn't seem to be paying any price for it thus far. Whether the Democrats will pay the price after the Republicans use it as another wedge issue remains to be seen.
If you've spent any time in California or the south-west, someone speaking or singing in Spanish is just a natural part of the fabric of the culture. Which is the point of this article. It doesn't have anything to do with immigration, or "ignoring the difference between legal and illegal immigration". It's about entire communities of Americans being terrorized by their own government because they have brown skin, or for the sin of speaking Spanish.
I completely understand that speaking and/or singing in Spanish is part of the culture. But I completely disagree with your assertion that the point of the article has nothing to do with immigration. The lead in for the article is "She [Nezza] sang the national anthem in Spanish as deportation forces assaulted L.A." Deportation is inextricably linked to the immigration process, as was Nezza's choice to sing in Spanish.
It was such a wonderfully defiant, patriotic act. I didn’t know this further backstory and it makes the whole thing even more beautiful. Brava, Nezza!
Wow, chills. Thank you so much for sharing this story, Adrian. I watched some clips and couln't feel more love for this lovely young lady.
She is inspiring. I look forward to watching the short film.
Adrian, We need to get this out into the mainstream as much as possible. Somos un pais. We are indeed. Thank you for this!
Many years ago, I was a teacher in an elementary school in the heart of Los Angeles. My students, 2nd graders, were all Spanish speaking and most were recent immigrants. One of the things I emphasized with them was that Spanish was an American language, a language to be proud of and to keep as they learned English, another American language. I hope it made a difference for them.
More needs to be said about the cost of ICE and detention. The net indicates that over 71000 are in detention at a cost of $150 - $200 per day. - over a million per day. The workers in detention may use hospital ER's and social services but Steven Miller is wrong about their cost to society in relation to the daily cost. But then the richest like their investment in Corecivic and GEOgroup as well as Palantir - all finance by BlackRock and Vanguard. These workers are needed on farmers and in the hospitality and construction industries - at a minimum - and they have contributed taxes and social security they will not claim. More than 65% of the voters do not support the administration's funding of detention and ICE. All of the world is laughing at us and Trump as he proclaims how great we are to halt immigration. Our Congress is much too corrupt, and Bondi, Noem, Patel, SCOTUS and the Federalist Society lawyers
The biggest, richest corporations are nearly all failing us in this moment. Big law firms failed. Universities largely failed. Individuals are resisting. If we ultimately win, we are going to have to reassess what power means, and who deserves it.
Good for Nezza, proud for her, and her whole life she will know what it felt like to be powerful and empathetic, rather than to follow orders.
All the dominos falling into place for Nezza. I'm so glad to hear the follow on to her performance at Dodger Stadium.
Alright, Nezza! Faced her fear and did what was right for her and for others. That's courage.
What a powerful moment it was. As a huge Dodger fan, I was disappointed to hear that they asked Nezza not to sing in Spanish, but she did the perfect thing in ignoring the ask. It didn't take the Dodger management long to see that. For a team whose history is full of great Dominican and other Hispanic players and FANS, it seems a bit tone deaf to suggest English only. Especially in the current environment. And, let's get real, the bond between all Latino people and this country is immeasurable. Every voice should rise, no matter the language!
Love your articles, Adrian! Giving some hope in times of darkness. It will indeed be up to we the people, as our institutions fail us.