The Mexican national soccer team will change hotels in Los Angeles ahead of Saturday’s Gold Cup game due to safety concerns amid protests over immigration attacks in the city, a team spokesman said Tuesday.
Mexico will play opening matches in a regional tournament against the Dominican Republic at Sophie Stadium in Inglewood.
The team had a booked hotel in downtown Los Angeles, but Bodhi, who governs Concacaf, allowed a change to an undecided hotel, Mexican team spokesman Fernando Schwartz told the Associated Press.
Konkakaff, which operates football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, has not made an official announcement.
The protest began in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, and authorities reported more than 100 arrests after a largely peaceful protest on Monday became violent in the evening. The demonstrations began last week after federal immigration authorities arrested people in the city.
Mayor Karen Bass spoke after a day of peaceful protests that became violent in downtown Los Angeles. Video press conference on Tuesday, June 10th, 2025.
On Sunday, the crowd blocked the 101 highway and burned self-driving cars as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bang hand rena bullets.
On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered 2,000 more National Guard troops to Los Angeles, along with the 700 Marines holding eight games at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Mexico’s coach Javier Aguirre was reluctant to talk about the protests at Monday’s press conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the team is scheduled to play in a friendly match against Turkey on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to talk about Los Angeles. I said we’re talking about sports here,” Aguirre said. “I can’t express myself right now. I have a match with Turkey, I don’t have any information. I don’t know what I’m watching on TV. We’re thousands of miles away and I can’t express myself.”
After the match against the Dominican Republic, Mexico flew to Arlington, Texas, playing Suriname, closing the first round of the tournament against Costa Rica in Las Vegas.
Jonathan Lloyd of NBCLA contributed to this report.
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