San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee detained by immigration agents at LAX Airport, team confirms

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: January 21, 2026 / 8:56 PM PST


San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee was detained by Customs and Border Protection agents at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday. Lee, 27, who was born in Japan but is of South Korean descent, was detained for "forgetting documents in Korea," the office of former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi confirmed.

"Our office is actively working with the Giants organization, our Congressional partners and federal liaisons to resolve this situation and secure Mr. Lee's release expeditiously," a statement from Pelosi's office said. CBS LA has reached out to CBP and the Department of Homeland Security for a statement on the matter, but has not yet heard back.

A spokesperson for the Giants said that Lee has since been released from detainment after he experienced a "brief travel issue at LAX due to a paperwork issue." "The matter was quickly clarified with the appropriate authorities, and he has since been cleared to continue his travel," the team's spokesperson said. "We appreciate the professionalism of all parties involved."

Lee signed with the Giants ahead of the 2024 Major League Baseball season. His six-year, $113 million deal, the most ever for a Korean-born position player, ended his seven-year tenure in the KBO League, South Korea's premier baseball organization.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/jung-hoo-lee-san-francisco-giants-detained-immigration-agents-lax/

---

This is a heads-up to ALL of the sports franchises. A significant number of players are not citizens or are in the process or may be naturalized, and they will be easy pickings for the ICE goons. A large number are also multimillionaires and MLB players are probably the most vulnerable with respect to racial profiling which is "legal" now thanks to the SCOTUS idiocy (not just those who are Asian like this case, but the Dominicans and Cubans and others from Latin America).

But the owners backed 45 and his face-eating leopard party, so...

[Lovie777]

1. .................................

[otchmoson]

2. Don't just call it the SCOTUS idiocy--

While it IS idiocy on the part of the SC, we need to identify this specifically as the shadow docket that is aptly named THE KAVANAUGH STOP.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Kavanaugh only "stops" in certain circuits - the 6th & the 8th

The BIGGEST "stopper" is ROBERTS for anything filed in and appealed to the D.C. Circuit, 4th Circuit, and Federal Circuit (which is a lot of stuff that impacts things nationwide) -

Circuit Assignments

It is ordered that the following allotment be made of The Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of this Court among the circuits, pursuant to Title 28, United States Code, Section 42 and that such allotment be entered of record, effective September 28, 2022.

For the District of Columbia Circuit - John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice

For the First Circuit - Ketanji Brown Jackson, Associate Justice
(Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island)

For the Second Circuit - Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice (Connecticut, New York, Vermont)

For the Third Circuit - Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice (Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virgin Islands)

For the Fourth Circuit - John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice (Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia)

For the Fifth Circuit - Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice (Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas)

For the Sixth Circuit - Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee)

For the Seventh Circuit - Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin)

For the Eighth Circuit - Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota)

For the Ninth Circuit - Elena Kagan, Associate Justice (Alaska, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, Washington)

For the Tenth Circuit - Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice (Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming)

For the Eleventh Circuit - Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice (Alabama, Florida, Georgia)

For the Federal Circuit - John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice.

[chicoescuela]

3. Just because this is JH Lee, no one really cares. Bet if this was Ohtani ,

everyone would have gone out of their minds.
Obscure SF Giants outfielder vs Dodgers World Series Champion and MVP.

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. Now go try to arrest some 350lb linemen on pro football teams

Lets see how far you get with that.

[Magoo48]

25. They won't go after that lineman for the same reason they don't send their kidnappers into

gang neighborhoods.

[quaint]

6. Slightly off-topic, but why does CBS use the wrong title for Speaker Emerita Pelosi?

AI informs that Speaker Emerita is media standard.

[Zackzzzz]

14. I never understood why President Obama was Mr. Obama

while he was president. And why Trump was President Trump,
not former president, while President Biden was president.
Chaney was alway VP, rarely...former...VP.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. Most of them use a "style sheet"

that indicates that they use the person's "official title" on first mention and then they will revert to the "honorifics" (i.e., "Mr.", "Ms.". etc).

[ificandream]

30. It depends on the style manual each newspaper uses and which reporters must follow in their stories.

The New York Times has their own style manual. It's available from most libraries here. It requires addressing people as Mr. and Mrs. or Miss. The one I'm more familiar with and the one the vast majority (maybe all the rest, as I don't know of any papers not affiliated with the Times who use theirs) newspapers use is the AP Stylebook. It's online here. Here's a story from the Times explaining style.

Reference.org lists the differences between the two:

The New York Times Manual has various differences from the more influential Associated Press Stylebook. As some examples, the NYT Manual:

Uses 's for possessives even for a word/name ending in s

Gives rationales for many practices for which AP simply states a rule

Is strictly alphabetical and thus self-indexed, while AP has separate sections for sports and weather entries, and combines many entries under such terms as "weapons"

Has some whimsical entries – such as one for how to spell shh – in contrast to AP's drier, more utilitarian format (though the NYT book is not alone in its tone among journalistic style guides)

Requires that the surnames of subjects be prefixed with a courtesy title (such as Dr., Mr., Ms., or Mrs.). However, since about 2015, courtesy titles have not been used in sports pages, pop culture, and fine arts. Also, after the first use of honorifics denoting posts (such as President or Professor, but not Dr.) in an article, the person is subsequently referred to by an egalitarian courtesy title (e.g. 'President Biden' then 'Mr. Biden').

Uses its own style for abbreviations rather than deferring to common usage; for example the National Football League is abbreviated NFL in most sources but N.F.L. in the New York Times

[Javaman]

7. well, he will be cut loose with an apology because money. nt

[Seinan Sensei]

8. "We appreciate the professionalism of all parties involved."

Uhm …
Except for the unprofessionalism of the Customs and Border Protection chuckleheads

[maliaSmith]

9. immigration issues

Now speak out on all the immigrants who are being abused, murdered, raped and violated by Trump's violent ICE. It looks like baseball stars are way more important than immigrants being murdered and abused just like peaceful protestors. When will Democrat leaders speak out forcefully and daily.

[Scruffy1]

10. According to this report he was born in both Korea and Japan.

So much for cbs.

[chowder66]

21. He's Korean (descent) but was born in Japan.

His parents are Korean.

[Brother Buzz]

24. Jung Hoo Lee's father was playing baseball in Japan when Jung Hoo Lee was born.

Jong-Beom Lee, Jung Hoo Lee's father, was a legendary baseball player in Korea, famous for his incredible speed. He earned the nickname "Son of Wind" because he ran as swiftly as the wind. Jung Hoo Lee was nicknamed "Grandson of Wind," since he's the son of the "Son of Wind.

Jung Hoo Lee is fun to watch; he’s got a good stick, but his fielding is sterling.

[robbob]

11. Kind of a non-story?

If I flew in without the proper paperwork I would kind of expect to be detained. According to the story he was held briefly and then the matter was cleared up.

Meanwhile, ICE is arresting and tear-gassing children.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. He's a multimillionaire

meaning that this is more proof of racial profiling, something that many people continue to deny happens.

I.e., focusing only on "economics" is bullshit when one ignores the fact that if one is the "wrong 'race'" (even if a "millionaire" or "billionaire" ), and that there exists the power to negatively impact some groups in this society because of their "race", and doing so by dismissive means such as dubbing it "identity politics", only helps to promote and magnify this egregious practice instead of recognizing it when it happens, and helping to find ways to counter it.

[LisaM]

26. Yes, I think there were some attention-grabbing headlines (not by the OP)

I have seen a number of breathless headlines on social media, but it's not related to ICE at all.

[BradBo]

12. I hope ICE goes all in on harassing foreign born pro athletes.

It might make people wake up to the danger of MAGA. And it will turn into a public relations disaster for the Puppy Killer.

[oldmanlynn]

13. It's too bad that the ordinary citizen doesn't have those same people pulling for them

[dalton99a]

15. +1

[Zackzzzz]

16. LA airport can be tough and I prefer not to go through it.

and I was born in Chicago, and had all the right papers.
A family member coming from a trip to Korea was hung up in LA
for 5 hours and had all the right papers. It's who you know.

[Wild blueberry]

19. Goons are going to have a field day wth FIFA teams

Unless the bribes are big enough.

[usonian]

20. Wait until soccer players are detained.

Europe has the anti-coercion instrument.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/21/the-12-people-who-hold-trumps-world-cup-in-their-hands-00739998

The world cup. Will athletes be arrested and detained?

YES.

Will FIFA drive itself further up Trump's ass?

[Initech]

23. YES.

I'm starting to think that Futurama had the right idea!

[Initech]

22. Fuck Tom Homan and Stephen Miller, may they rot in the fieriest pit in the depths of hell!

[aggiesal]

27. Wait until the Venezuelans start coming for spring training in about a month. n/t

[aggiesal]

28. Wait until the Venezuelans start coming for spring training in about a month. n/t

[moniss]

29. I would also encourage them

to be aware of whatever jewelry, watches, designer bags etc. they are traveling with and to take pics of them with the stuff on and in their possession. People who get "detained" and shuffled around and maybe booked have plenty of stories of not getting all of their stuff back.

[ificandream]

31. Saw Jung Hoo Lee at the Giants fanfest in San Ramon today.

He looked a little worn out and perhaps was still recovering from the flight. In any event, he was the guy most people came to see.