Nothing Says ‘Welcome to America’ Quite Like Having ICE at the FIFA World Cup!

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is a certified dud, and not just because its organization’s president won’t stop brown-nosing Trump.

Rather, it seems everyone in charge is working around the clock to make this the most uninviting sporting event imaginable, with tickets being mired in pricing controversies and costing upwards of $1,000; operations getting sleazed up to embrace lucrative (read, corrupt) motives; and, again, FIFA’s president being a tad too obsessed with getting Trump’s approval.

So now, to top it all off, ICE apparently plans to be present. At an an international sporting event that would, typically, invite spectators from around the world. Great! 

Speaking to CBS News’ Face the Nation on Tuesday, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said ICE presence at the World Cup isn’t “off the table,” and that agents will not be there to “enforc[e] mass immigration,” but to “enforce the law.” Sure sounds like that time they said they were coming to the Italy Winter Olympics for—what was it?—“security” measures. Only this time, we don’t have a government that’ll tell them, Vaffanculo.

“It’s Immigrations and Custom Enforcement,” Mullin said—seemingly getting wrong the name of the department he leads. (It runs in the DHS family, I guess.) “We’re in there to do our job…We’re not there to go round up mass individuals, but we are always looking for the worst of the worst. We’re going to continue to do that.”

In a separate NBC News report, two DHS officials said ICE is offering agents to help local police departments provide “extra security” measures throughout the course of the games. “Our agents and officers are going to provide security when asked, but they will not be screening people for immigration status,” one source told the outlet. Hm.

In a letter to FIFA officials, the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) demanded to keep the organization from collaborating with the Trump administration’s anti-immigration campaign, saying their affiliated unions “are deeply concerned about ICE being engaged for any purpose during the World Cup.” “The tactics of discrimination, violence and intimidation used by immigration agencies to target working people across the country cause fear and chaos in our communities, and directly affect workers, business operations and local economies.” 

And, here’s your regular reminder that despite bragging about its anti-immigration campaign to target the “worst of the worst,” the administration has made a habit of erroneously detaining and deporting U.S. citizens; children and pregnant people; and, according to a CATO Institute in June, individuals who have mostly never before had a violent conviction. Currently, more than 60,000 people are in ICE detention.

Speaking to journalists about the obvious concerns of having immigration enforcement at, again, an international sporting event, a DHS spokesperson said, “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S. — full stop.” They added that anyone who’s here legally has “nothing to worry about.” Which is funny, considering individuals who claim they’ve had perfectly valid legal documentation to stay in the U.S. have been, in the past, detained anyways. Ah, well. There’s always the UEFA Super Cup, I guess.