Kansas City activists are taking advantage of the international attention surrounding the 2026 World Cup to bring attention to workers’ rights, social inequities, and safety concerns for immigrants in the city.
Local Efforts
Activist Tay Castillo has been canvassing local businesses to enlist their support of the Monarch Pledge, a public declaration in support of immigrant rights. Over two dozen Kansas City-area businesses have already signed and are displaying the distinctive logo, which features monarch butterflies symbolizing migration.
Castillo is a member of the Kansas City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Other local groups involved in organizing to protect the rights of immigrants and others during the World Cup include Decarcerate KC, Boots on the Ground Midwest, Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation, and the Party for Socialism & Liberation.
Global Network
The Monarch Pledge is part of a global network organizing around the rights of low-wage and unionized workers, immigrants, and residents in the 16 host cities of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Kansas City advocates participated in a June virtual press conference connecting organizers from host cities, including several in Mexico.
In Los Angeles, advocates explained their focus on SoFi Stadium, where matches are being played. A strike was threatened amid contract negotiations between unionized workers and management of the stadium. Union organizers passed out buttons to the SoFi workforce that said, “Kick ICE Out.” A tentative agreement includes allowing workers to walk off their jobs if immigration agents threaten worker safety.
In Kansas City, the union that represents public employees took the city to court to mediate the mandatory overtime and other strains on workers because of the World Cup. Representatives with AFSCME Local 500 allege that the city didn’t go through the process to negotiate the changes with the union.
Concerns and Initiatives
Immigrant rights advocates are monitoring a law that makes entering the U.S. without authorization a state crime. Concerns include the fear that law enforcement will be incentivized to racially and ethnically profile people and that the law interferes with the federal role of immigration enforcement.
The host cities, including Kansas City, will also be part of a scorecard monitoring conditions for workers and immigrants, called Dignity 2026. It will be maintained at the O’Neill Institute. The effort asks community members to judge conditions using a scorecard.
Categories include workers’ rights, public safety, migrant and LGBTQ+ protections, and how the city keeps from displacing houseless populations. The scorecard is modeled after the FWC2026 Human Rights Framework.
Original reporting: The Beacon (Kansas City) — read the source article.
