No, Yankee Stadium Did Not Offer ICE Agents Free Hotdogs
What happened: Social media users across the political spectrum are posting a doctored image to claim that Yankee Stadium is offering free hot dogs to ICE agents who present valid identification.
Pro-ICE accounts are praising the Yankees for supposedly supporting ICE by offering free food, while anti-ICE accounts are commending the Yankees organization for purportedly luring ICE agents into revealing their identities — an apparent commentary on agents who wear masks during deportations.
A closer look: The image appears to have originated on the self-described “parody” X page @TalkinBasabell_, an account that frequently posts memes and fake news about baseball.
On June 27, 2025, the page posted a photo appearing to show a hot dog cart at Yankee Stadium with a sign reading, “ICE Agents: Free hot dog (Please show ID)” with the caption: “Yankees stadium offering free hot dogs to ICE Agents. A small gesture from New York, served with mustard.” The post garnered 16.6 million views and 42,000 likes in three days.
The next day, accounts that did not appear to understand the photo’s satirical origins posted the photo as authentic.
Anti-Trump Threads user @billcampa posted the image with the caption, “I.C.E. agents get free hot dogs at New York’s Yankee Stadium (about $8!) – just if they provide their I.D., of course.” The post received 496,000 views and 14,400 likes in two days.
Pro-Trump X account @akafaceUS posted the image with the caption, “Yankees stadium is offering free hotdogs to ICE agents.” The post garnered 136,000 views and 5,800 likes in two days.
Actually: As noted above, the doctored photo was first posted as satire. The image was digitally altered to add a sign offering free hot dogs to ICE agents.
The original photo, available on the free image repository Wikimedia Commons, was taken at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 3, 2017, and originally featured a yellow sticker reading “Caution Hot Surface Do Not Touch” in the spot where the phony ICE sign was added.
NewsGuard sent an email to the New York Yankees’ media office and the Major League Baseball’s press office seeking comment on the photo but did not receive an immediate response. ICE’s media office also did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
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