Dodgers' Miguel Rojas Passes U.S. Citizenship Test During Playoff Bye Week

Miguel Rojas spent 13 years building a career in American baseball. Last week, during the Dodgers' first-round playoff bye, he added a new credential: he passed his U.S. citizenship test.

"As soon as I made the decision that I wanted to do this, I wanted to do it for my family, for my kids and for the future of them," Rojas said, according to the New York Post. "So I'm really proud of being an American."

A Test Scheduled Around a Pennant Race

Rojas, 37, came to the U.S. in 2014 as a prospect out of Venezuela. He's spent more than a decade playing for the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers, and both of his children were born in Miami.

According to the Los Angeles Times, as cited by Sports Illustrated, Rojas originally scheduled his naturalization appointment for this past January, during the baseball offseason, specifically so it wouldn't conflict with his job. That appointment didn't happen as planned.

Essentially Sports and Yahoo Sports both reported that his application was "abruptly paused" after a Department of Homeland Security memo froze naturalization applications from what the memo described as high-risk nations. Neither outlet cited DHS directly on the record, and no DHS statement responding to Rojas's case appears in the reporting. It's unclear from available reporting exactly which countries that memo covered or how long the pause lasted for Rojas specifically.

DHS and immigration hawks have long argued that applicants from countries with weak documentation systems or adversarial governments warrant extra scrutiny before they're granted the rights of citizenship, including voting. Venezuela's government, under Nicolás Maduro, has been a frequent target of U.S. sanctions and travel restrictions. Blanket country-based pauses, however, catch long-vetted, law-abiding applicants in the same net as anyone else from that country, with no individualized finding against them. Nothing in these reports suggests Rojas was personally flagged for any wrongdoing.

The Bye Week Made It Possible

Rojas eventually got a new appointment for October 2, the day before the Dodgers' NLDS opener, according to Sports Illustrated. He left the team Thursday and flew to Miami to take the test Friday, hoping to make it back for Game 1 on Saturday.

The timing worked because the Dodgers secured the National League's No. 2 seed and a first-round bye, according to Dodgers Nation, which cited Orange County Register reporter Bill Plunkett. Had Los Angeles been forced into the best-of-three wild card round, Plunkett wrote, the scheduling "would complicate his travel" to the test. Dodgers Nation reported Rojas's original test date had actually been set for October 1, which would have fallen in the middle of a wild card series had the Dodgers not clinched the bye.

Rojas discussed passing the test publicly after the Dodgers' NLDS Game 2 loss, according to BVM Sports, which reported on a Bleed Los podcast appearance. He noted that some paperwork still needs to be finished before his naturalization is fully complete, even though he's already passed the test itself. Passing the civics and English test is a required step toward citizenship, not the final one. Most applicants still need to clear a formal naturalization oath ceremony before citizenship is legally conferred. Several outlets' headlines flatly stated Rojas "earns" citizenship without flagging that distinction.

What He Said It Means

"I'm proud of being working here for over 20 years now," Rojas said, according to multiple outlets including Essentially Sports. "I've been playing professional baseball now for a long time, and that gave me the opportunity to learn the culture, the country, and I don't take that for granted."

He added that his Venezuelan roots aren't going anywhere. "Both of my kids were born in Miami and grew up in the United States," Rojas said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "And obviously, my ties with Venezuela will always be where I'm coming from, and I will never forget that."

The Baseball Backdrop

Rojas announced at the start of the season that he plans to retire once the Dodgers' postseason run ends. He's a two-time World Series champion with Los Angeles and delivered one of the signature moments of last year's title run: a game-tying ninth-inning home run off Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman in Game 7, setting up Will Smith's extra-innings, go-ahead homer that clinched the championship, according to the New York Post.

This season he slashed .267/.312/.391 in 105 games, according to Sports Illustrated, and earned $5.5 million, according to Essentially Sports. Essentially Sports also reported Rojas has already arranged to move into a player development and front-office role with the Dodgers after he retires, with an eye toward eventually coaching or managing. U.S. citizenship removes the need for work visas in those roles.

The Dodgers trail the Braves 0-2 in the NLDS and are set to play a must-win Game 3 Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to the New York Post. Whether Rojas gets more at-bats before his playing career ends depends on how far the Dodgers can push their three-peat bid, and whether he finishes the paperwork that turns a passed test into an actual oath of citizenship.