Assemblywoman Karines Reyes, D-Bronx, is chair of the New York State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force . Guillermo A. Martinez is deputy director and intergovernmental liaison for the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy at SUNY’s Rockefeller Institute of Government .

Baseball has long been celebrated as America’s pastime—a sport deeply entwined with the nation’s identity. Yet today, Major League Baseball (MLB) is a global phenomenon, fueled in no small part by individuals who were not born in the United States.

At the start of the 2025 season, 265 foreign-born players appear on Opening Day rosters — comprising 28% of the league. These athletes hail from the Dominican Republic, Japan, Venezuela, Cuba and beyond. They are not just participating — they

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