When the World Cup kicks off next month, thousands of American and international soccer fans may encounter federal immigration agents near U.S. stadiums, according to a new report, despite at least one reassurance to the contrary from a senior Trump official.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has offered to deploy its personnel to assist local and federal authorities with security during matches, NBC News reported, citing two unnamed Department of Homeland Security officials. It is unclear whether any police departments have accepted.
“Our agents and officers are going to provide security when asked, but they will not be screening people for immigration status,” one official said. Agents, however, have not been explicitly forbidden from making arrests, the sources told NBC.
A DHS spokesperson told The Independent that the department’s security operations would remain lawful and routine, emphasizing that coordination with federal and local partners is standard for “every major sporting event.”
DHS added that foreign visitors in the country legally for the global soccer event “have nothing to worry about.”
But earlier this month, Rodney Barreto, co-chair of Miami’s hosting committee told The Athletic that he had been informed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that federal immigrant agents would not be on hand during the games in the Florida city.
“A lot of people are talking, ‘Well, ICE will be at the stadium,’” Barreto said. “I talked to Marco Rubio. ICE is not going to be at the stadium.”
“This is not going to turn into some ‘round them up’ type of thing. That’s not the purpose of this. It’ll be a great experience for everybody,” he added.
Immigrant advocate groups, however, expressed skepticism over the pledge.
“A personal assurance is not policy, and it is not protection,” Yareliz Zamora, the Florida coordinator for American Friends Service Committee, said in a statement last week, according to USA Today.
When reached by The Independent, a State Department spokesperson said: “The safety and security of FIFA World Cup matches, athletes, fans, and venues as well as the continued safety of the United States are top priorities for the Trump Administration.”
Whether ICE will be present at the summer tournament has been a source of concern among a number of local officials and fans for months. ICE has drawn significant public backlash for its aggressive actions on American streets as part of its handling of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
After two American citizens were killed by immigration agents in Minnesota in January, a PBS News poll found that most respondents believe ICE is making the country less safe, with nearly two-thirds saying the agency has “gone too far.”
Concern appears to have reached the highest levels of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body.
In April, The Athletic reported that FIFA executives were considering asking Trump to suspend ICE raids during the World Cup. They discussed framing the idea to the president as a win-win for both the administration and the soccer organization.Insiders said that Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, was open to the plan and would attempt to directly engage the president, with whom he has a warm relationship.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle did not directly address the prospect of an ICE moratorium, but said at the time the tournament “will be one of the greatest and most spectacular events in the history of mankind.”
The World Cup will take place from June 11 to July 19, with matches held in more than a dozen cities across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The tournament is expected to attract millions of visitors from across North America and beyond, with over five million tickets already sold.
