PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — “Push!” “Press!” “Good ball!”
Aubrey Decraig, third from right, celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during a soccer tournament for immigrant and refugee girls on Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Portland, Ore. As the volunteer soccer coach shouted words of motivation, one of his players nudged the ball past the opposing team’s goalie and into the net, prompting the sideline to erupt in cheers.
This was the scene Sunday in Portland, Oregon, at a soccer tournament its organizer dubbed the World Cup for immigrant and refugee girls. Community advocate Som Subedi, an immigrant from Bhutan, created the event to help provide a sense of joy and unity amid federal immigration enforcement operations that have affected players’ families. “ICE and federal enforcement must be out of our parking lots, out of our soccer fields, and most importantly, out of the fear in our hearts and minds,” Subedi said during the opening ceremony, using the acronym for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Subedi belongs to the Lhotshampa, a Nepali-speaking ethnic group targeted by Bhutanese authorities in the early 1990s. He lived in a refugee camp in Nepal for years and arrived in Portland in 2008, eventually becoming a U.S. citizen. “This is more than a competition. It is more than soccer,” he told The Associated Press. “We are making this a community event so that they feel valued and welcomed.”Fears of federal immigration enforcement have gripped youth sports across the country. Last fall, the Oregon Youth Soccer Association announced the cancellation or rescheduling of several games in Portland over concerns about immigration agents in parks, arrested by immigration agents on his way to volleyball practice last May before being released. Immigration enforcement, spearheaded by President Donald Trump’s administration, surged in the Pacific Northwest last fall, nearing the historic height seen during the first Obama administration,released by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights. In Oregon, the spike saw nearly 1,200 people arrested from October to December. Portland’s ICE building has been the site of persistent protests over the administration’s immigration crackdown since last June, including months of nightly demonstrations. Federal officers’ use of chemical munitions such as tear gas to disperse crowds at the building is the subject of two lawsuits, brought by nearby residents and protesters respectively, that are currently before a federal appeals court. Some of the tournament’s players — aged 10-18 and whose families hailed from countries from Mexico to Somalia to Myanmar — have been directly impacted by the immigration crackdown. Valeria Hernandez, 15, said her brother was deported to Mexico late last year. “I broke down at that moment. I was really sad,” she told the AP, choking up. “He was my best friend.” It became harder to get to practice, as her brother used to gives her rides. He was her main inspiration for playing soccer, she said, adding that she sent him a picture from the tournament before her first game.At the opening ceremony, Valeria, her mother and younger sister were gifted brightly colored scarves as symbols of support while they grapple with the deportation of their loved one, with whom “they deserve to be united,” Subedi said. Subedi himself recounted how his daughter, 11, was afraid to go to soccer practice after immigration agents were reported near her school last winter. He showed her that he carries his REAL ID and passport on him, but she was still nervous, he told the AP.Community solidarity To help create a sense of safety at the tournament, officers from two police departments and a local immigrant rights group were present. At times, officers were seen on the edge of the park chatting with attendees, or in their patrol vehicle in the parking lot. Under Oregon’s sanctuary law, local police are prohibited from assisting with federal immigration enforcement. The departments committed to showing up in a supportive role, he said, “and their presence helped families feel protected, not policed.”“When there’s a feeling of having a community’s back for these girls, I think that creates that sense of belonging, sense of safeness,” he said. Esraa Alnabelsi, who arrived in the U.S. from Syria in 2012, said it was exciting not only to watch her 13-year-old daughter play, but also to see people of different cultures and religions come together. “We really have to be in one hand to face all that’s happening now in Oregon and other states,” she said. There has also been solidarity among the players. A few girls who didn’t come from immigrant families wanted to participate in the tournament, and they were accepted as the event was open to everyone, Subedi said. Thanks to donations, the tournament — including jerseys and cleats — was free for the girls, who were split into six teams. Some teams represented certain communities and groups, such as the Karen people in Myanmar and the African Refugee Immigrant Organization. The teams that placed first and second received trophies.Sergio Medel was a volunteer coach for a team that included his 16-year-old daughter. He used to play professionally in Mexico and has coached at various levels in the U.S. since arriving in 1997.As the world’s most played and popular sport, soccer has a way of bringing diverse communities together, with similar soccer tournaments for immigrants organized in the U.S. in recent years. Subedi, who has loved playing soccer since he was a young child, described it as a game where “there is no language needed.”PORTLAND, Ore. — “Push!” “Press!” “Good ball!” As the volunteer soccer coach shouted words of motivation, one of his players nudged the ball past the opposing team’s goalie and into the net, prompting the sideline to erupt in cheers. This was the scene Sunday in Portland, Oregon, at a soccer tournament its organizer dubbed Vermont’s effort to make fossil fuel companies pay for damage caused by climate change was tested Monday in a federal courtroom, where the state argued that two lawsuits challenging its groundbreaking 2024 law should be thrown out. Vermont became the first state to enact a climate superfund law, modeled on the federal superfund law that LOS ANGELES — A U.S. Marine who was an ammunition specialist at California’s Camp Pendleton is charged with stealing ammo and weapons, including a shoulder-fired missile system, and conspiring to sell them in Arizona, according to court documents. Cpl. Andrew Paul Amarillas pleaded not guilty last Thursday in Phoenix to multiple charges including conspiracy CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that it is important to closely monitor inflation amid a spike in energy prices from the Iran war. Powell, who spoke before nearly 400 students at Harvard University as gas prices inched toward an average of $4 per gallon in the U.S., said there BULVERDE, Texas — A student shot a teacher at a Texas high school and then fatally shot himself, authorities said Monday. The shooting happened at Hill Country College Preparatory High School in Bulverde, the Comal County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post. The teacher was taken to a San Antonio hospital, but A notebook with meeting minutes and a ledger are among Ku Klux Klan-related items that the Mississippi state government uncovered while clearing out an office, offering new glimpses into the violent white supremacist group known for its secrecy and links to law enforcement. All the objects have been transferred to the Mississippi Department of Archives WSECU Community Champion: Chrystal Ortega’s mission to feed Spokane Chrystal Ortega's tireless dedication recently earned her the WSECU Community Champions Award and a $1,000 grant to further the mission.When Shawn Tibbitts opened Tibbitts FernHill, he was just trying to survive. The small Tacoma restaurant has since earned culinary awards and praise.Wilcox Family Farms is continuing its cherished holiday tradition of giving back by donating nearly one million eggs to food banks across the South Sound region this season.Matthew Ballantyne has transformed that early awareness into action, embodying the organization's mission:"No Kid Sleeps On The Floor In Our Town."
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