Rays shortstop Wander Franco likely will not be allowed into the United States while he faces charges of sexual abuse of a minor, a serious felony in his native Dominican Republic, according to two immigration lawyers who have worked with major league players and clubs.
In an Instagram live broadcast in August, Franco denied the allegations. But based on immigration attorneys' comments, his presence at spring training and his availability for at least the start of the 2024 season appear to be in doubt, even before Major League Baseball considers action.
“Unless there is complete exoneration in this case, where it turns out everything was fabricated, I don’t think he’s going to come back any time soon, if at all,” said Javad Khazaeli, a former U.S. immigration prosecutor – and customs authority who now works in private practice.
A judge in the Dominican Republic ruled Friday that Franco could leave the country but must return once a month to appear before authorities. Franco was released from custody on Monday afternoon. However, the U.S. government could revoke Franco's visa on the grounds that he could be viewed as a threat to public safety because of the allegations against him, according to Amy Maldonado, who said she is outside counsel for four major league teams ( but not for the USA). rays).
“The likelihood that he would enter the U.S. even if he had a valid visa that has not been revoked is minimal,” said Khazaeli, who has also worked in senior immigration positions for both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor.
“To be honest, if I were his immigration lawyer, I would tell him not to even try. He would then risk being detained at the border (by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and detained here pending adjudication of these claims.”
Franco, 22, is under investigation in the Dominican Republic on allegations that he had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl and gave her mother 100,000 Dominican pesos ($1,785) a month to set up a “dating relationship,” according to court documents obtained by The Athletic.
Major League Baseball is also investigating Franco but will most likely not act until his legal matters in the Dominican Republic are resolved. League officials declined to comment on his case. The Rays, the Players Association and Jay Reisinger, a personal attorney for Franco, also declined to comment. The process could drag on for months.
If Franco is unable to enter the United States by Opening Day, the Rays would have no choice but to place him on the restricted list, preventing him from being paid. A conviction in the Dominican Republic would be a serious crime under U.S. immigration law and would result in permanent removal from the U.S., immigration lawyers said.
In this scenario, Franco would forgo the remaining $174 million of the 11-year, $182 million contract he signed in November 2021. He would not be paid because he could not fulfill his contractual obligations.
The question of whether Franco could return to the U.S. if convicted on a lesser charge is “extremely complicated” and depends on a number of factors, Maldonado said.
If a lesser charge still involves a minor, “that's a huge mountain to climb,” Khazaeli said. If the crime is considered a “crime of violence” and is punishable by a prison sentence of more than one year, it would still be considered a serious felony and result in a permanent ban from the United States
Even if Franco is legally cleared, he could lose his salary if the league suspends him under its shared policy on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. Under this policy, Commissioner Rob Manfred can suspend a player even if he is not charged or convicted of a crime.
“There is a credible allegation against him. And there is law enforcement in a country that we believe is democratic,” Khazaeli said. “We (the US) will forego it. Unless something (unforeseen) happens, I can’t imagine his visa being approved (in the short term).”
According to a source briefed on his trial, Franco has a five-year P-1A athlete visa that allows him to travel from his native Dominican Republic to perform as a professional athlete in the United States. But the government, said Khazaeli, has a different view of a visa as an “extraordinary advantage.” The burden of proof for admission lies with the foreign citizen.
The Immigration and Nationality Act contains a provision that allows the government to deny entry to a foreign citizen if it determines that there are valid reasons for doing so. State Department decisions generally cannot be appealed to the judicial system due to an aspect of immigration law known as the doctrine of consular unverifiability, Khazaeli said.
“It’s not just the State Department’s role to distribute visas or Customs and Border Protection’s role to process people,” Maldonado said. “Both agencies take their roles in protecting the United States from external threats very seriously.”
The league placed Franco on paid administrative leave on August 22 last year, citing the investigation into allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a minor. For procedural reasons, the Rays reinstated Franco to their 40-man roster on November 2.
The commissioner's office would not be able to authorize further administrative leave if Franco were banned from entry.
Administrative leave is a tool the league uses, with the consent of the players' association, to essentially await investigations by other groups.
“This is consistent with the American idea that you are innocent until proven guilty,” Maldonado said. “But that’s not how immigration and the State Department work at all.”
If Franco returns, either after serving a lesser sentence or being acquitted, the chances of the Rays voiding the remainder of his contract seem slim. After the arrests, teams attempted to recover the salary guarantees of LaMarr Hoyt, Denny Neagle and Francisco Rodríguez, but ultimately paid the players back some or all of the remaining money.
“There is no precedent in MLB for teams to terminate contracts — and that has been demonstrated over a period of many decades, let alone many years,” said Michael McCann, director of the Sports Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire Tampa Bay Times. “Although any new situation could potentially lead to a new outcome, in our opinion the most likely situation in which a contract termination occurred was when a team and a player negotiated a buyout and the player received a large portion of the sum owed.”
Baseball's domestic violence policy allows Manfred to “transfer” his disciplinary authority to the club. But the Rays couldn't void the contract on that basis without a major challenge from the union.
However, all of this assumes that Franco will be able to return to the United States at some point soon.
Khazaeli said: “I'm putting on my former homeland security attorney's hat: If this case came to my desk, there would be no chance I would recommend a visa.”
(Top photo by Wander Franco: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)