The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which began on Thursday, is expected to draw between 5 million and 7 million soccer fans to the 11 U.S. host cities. However, the planned presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the games is casting a pall over the event, with many fans and local leaders expressing concern about the potential for illegal immigrant enforcement.

Local Leaders Speak Out

Avram Kline, a self-described soccer superfan who founded the Newcomers Football Club, a mutual aid group to support asylee and refugee players, said that the presence of ICE agents is likely to cause disturbances rather than prevent them. "People who play together, even on a casual basis, without even knowing each other, are already friends, and they already have a bond of trust, because the game is based on trust," Kline said.

In New York City, which is hosting games in partnership with East Rutherford, New Jersey, Democratic city councilmember Kelsea Bond helped push through two resolutions expressing the city council's opposition to ICE facilities inside the city limits and requesting that the Atlanta Police Department chief establish policies under which employees would document any suspected misconduct from ICE agents when they are present during police activities.

In California, Cesar Zamaro, a bartender at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, another World Cup site, said that the presence of ICE agents is more likely to cause problems than prevent them. "It takes away your desire to get to work when you know that you might be harassed or you might be detained for no reason," Zamaro said.

ICE Response

Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that international visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about. Bis also said that only someone's status living in the country illegally would make them a target for immigration enforcement.

Original reporting: The Connecticut Mirror — read the source article.