A day after Biddeford resident Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, the Portland Hearts of Pine soccer franchise issued a public statement condemning the shooting.

The key sentence was a call for action: “We stand with our neighbors in demanding ICE be held accountable for their actions.” 

The five-paragraph statement, quoting club founder Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, immediately put the small-market men’s professional soccer team that has forged an outsized following in rare space. Few professional sports teams, especially men’s teams, have made a direct statement against the federal government’s immigration policies.

Portland’s other professional men’s teams — the Portland Sea Dogs, Maine Mariners and Maine Celtics — have not made any public statements about immigration rights before or after Guerrero’s death. Each club either declined or did not respond to interview requests.

Why don’t more professional sports teams, organizations and athletes let their fans know where they stand on important social issues, especially when headline events are happening in their own communities?

“The simple and complicated answer is capitalism,” said Dr. Kara Peruccio, an assistant professor of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and History at the University of Maine.

What clubs fear is that a comment supporting immigrants rights ends up being framed as politically partisan. Once defined that way, it becomes divisive. And that can lead to alienating paying customers and business partners, said Peruccio, who is also a Hearts season-ticket holder.

The comments on the Hearts of Pine’s Facebook post reflect the divide. Most were supportive of the statement. One commenter said: “To the other sports franchises in the nation, this is how you do it.”

But plenty of others said the club should stick to sports and defended ICE for doing its job. Several asked why the Hearts aren’t outraged when illegal aliens kill American citizens. Some said they will never support the club now.

WHEN IS A STATEMENT WARRANTED?

Despite the potential blowback, sports teams and organizations can make an impact when they take a stand, said Andrea Florence, the executive director of Sport and Rights Alliance, an international coalition of rights organizations focused mostly on athletes’ rights and well-being.

Sports have the ability to break through people’s regular “bubble” of information and communication, Florence said.

“Human rights are only talked about in certain circles, so when a sports organization does speak about them, that necessarily breaks the bubble because it’s not the usual place where human rights are debated or highlighted,” Florence said. “That adds more weight to it. If a sports organization feels compelled to talk about a human rights violation, then it must be important.”

Peruccio, the UMaine professor, is president of the newly formed Lightkeepers Supporters Group for the Hearts’ yet-to-be-named women’s pre-professional team that will begin play in 2027.

Peruccio added she was “proud” of the Hearts for getting involved and using its “political and social capital” in Maine. While there has been backlash, Peruccio said she believes many season-ticket holders and fans like herself are glad “they came out and said something.”

The Lightkeepers’ statement against ICE following the shooting was much more strongly worded. Peruccio acknowledged there’s little associated risk to speaking up for such a fledgling group.

A STATEMENT BUT NO ELABORATION

Hoffman-Johnson, through a club spokesman, declined to be interviewed about the club’s decision-making process in releasing the statement. Also, the club would not allow access to players to ask them how they felt about the club’s statement, citing in part player safety as a top priority and a reason for shielding them from media exposure.

Six Hearts of Pine players, including injured starter Masashi Wada of Japan, are foreign citizens playing soccer on work visas. Several of the American players on the racially diverse 26-man roster are dual citizens and about three-fourths are people of color.

Soccer in the United States is heavily influenced by immigrant populations, both in terms of its audience and the players on the field.

From its earliest concepts, Hoffman-Johnson’s vision for a pro soccer team in Maine included a community-first ethos with an emphasis on accessibility and inclusiveness. In January, when ICE began an enhanced enforcement operation in Maine, creating fear, confusion and arrests, the Hearts of Pine issued a statement of support for the immigrant community. It included a listing of agencies that could inform immigrants of their rights and offer assistance. But it did not mention ICE or any specific cases.

Portland resident Travis Kroot is an at-large board member for Dirigo Union, the independent supporters’ group for the Hearts of Pine. With nearly 1,300 members, Dirigo Union is known for setting the loud and enthusiastic tone at sold-out matches at Fitzpatrick Stadium. They have also advocated for immigrant rights.

“The Hearts of Pine have stood well and we’re definitely appreciative that they’re holding themselves to a standard that’s not typical in men’s sports,” Kroot said.

Dirigo Union made its own public statement that it “rejects ICE’s presence in Maine,” on the day Guerrero was killed.

“It’s really important to see how people respond and how organizations respond when their values are challenged in a situation like this,” Kroot said.

Prior to Wednesday’s home match against Union Omaha, Dirigo Union displayed a banner that the Hearts of Pine approved. At the 12-minute mark, the hand-painted message of “GET OUT, ICE” was raised, while other Dirigo Union members held up seven placards, each with the name of a person known to have been shot and killed by ICE agents.

An eighth placard was blank. Kroot said it represented ICE’s next victim.

For three minutes, the supporters’ section were quiet. The hush spread across the entire crowd of 6,239 fans. At the 15-minute mark, Dirigo Union went into a familiar chant.

Since August of last year, the supporters’ section has chanted “Bring Him Home” (since changed to “Bring Them Home”) in the 15th minute of home matches. The chant started after the arrest of Malunda Destino in Scarborough. Destino, a native of Angola, wore No. 15 as a member of the Lewiston-based Maine Legends FC semi-professional soccer team. Destino is still being held in an ICE detention facility.

TAKING A STAND

Nationally, women’s professional sports teams and leagues have shown a greater willingness to take a public stance on issues surrounding race, law enforcement, and immigration rights.

In June 2025, when immigration raids were sweeping through many major cities, women’s pro soccer team Angel City FC, the NWSL’s Los Angeles franchise, posted it was “heartbroken by the fear and uncertainty many are feeling. … our city is stronger because of its diversity.”

The NWSL and WNBA offered a joint statement that the leagues stood “with all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity, no matter where they come from.”

In early 2026, Minnesota became the flash point for ICE activity and President Donald Trump’s calls for mass deportation. When protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by ICE agents, many athletes did speak out and the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA became one of the few men’s teams to make an organizational statement.

ONE SYMBOL CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Some sports figures have paid a steep price when they use their athletic platform to make a statement. When United States sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised gloved fists in a Black Power salute on the awards stand at the 1968 Summer Olympics, they were making a statement about Black pride and the racial unrest and riots in their own country. They were expelled from the Games.

Colin Kaepernick’s NFL career was essentially undone by his decision to not stand for the national anthem. President Jimmy Carter’s landslide loss to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election is attributable to many things, including his hugely unpopular decision that America would boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

It requires a bit of moxie to take a stand, even a subtle, quiet one like Hearts of Pine coach Bobby Murphy did early in the Hearts’ inaugural 2025 season when he started wearing a sweatshirt with the word “Neat.”

Stylistically, Murphy’s “Neat.” mimicked the Maine Office of Tourism sponsored logo “Maine.” on the Hearts’ jersey.

What did Murphy’s shirt mean? A bartender would know. “Neat” means “no ice.”

The Maine Immigrants Rights Coalition (MIRC) has coordinated with a group called the Neat Brigade to promote sales of sweatshirts and T-shirts, now produced by American Roots at their Westbrook facility. Several hundred have been sold, with 15% of profits donated to MIRC.

The messaging is important, whether it’s on a sweatshirt or the Hearts of Pine’s social media channels, said MIRC’s communications manager Panagioti Tsolkas.

“I think it’s had an incredible impact,” Tsolkas said. “Any time you break down those barriers of what’s acceptable discourse and put it in front of people, that makes it less taboo. The Hearts of Pine have helped in that process.”