Federal immigration authorities will be on site at the FIFA Club World Cup in Miami starting this Saturday, but have maintained that they will be providing extra security for the event and not to arrest illegal immigrants.
Federal police from the Department of Homeland Security agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will be at the soccer match to act as security back-up to local and state police as the Federation Internationale de Football Association’s tournament gets underway this weekend through July 13.
Recommended Stories
- What to know about Trump's gold card program
- Pat Fallon rails against Tim Walz likening ICE agents to 'Gestapo'
- Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson urges people to 'push back' against ICE raids: 'Dissent matters'
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is committed to working with our local and federal partners to ensure the FIFA Club World Cup 26TM is safe for everyone involved, as we do with every major sporting event, including the Super Bowl. Our mission remains unchanged,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement.
Some of CBP’s 60,000 personnel will be on site at Hard Rock Stadium in downtown Miami, detecting and responding to threats from people who engage in fraud or criminal activity. They will act as emergency and incident management, enforce temporary flight restrictions around the stadium, and support security examinations of attendees and vehicles outside the stadium, according to CBP.
CBP did not mention plans to check the immigration status of attendees at the games, though ICE has instructed guests to be ready to provide proof of legal status if they are not a U.S. citizen, according to NBC-6 South Florida.
ICE and CBP were accused of deleting posts on X stating that their personnel would be “suited and booted” at the event. ICE did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Florida Immigration Coalition’s Thomas Kennedy wrote in a post on Wednesday that the comments were concerning, given how the Trump administration has expanded its mass deportation operation recently to target noncriminal illegal immigrants increasingly.
“The messaging that CBP is using is a bit cryptic, it’s sort of alluding that people should have their paperwork in order to attend the games,” Kennedy told NBC-6. “It creates an environment where people are less likely to come watch the games because of just sheer intimidation.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino told reporters at a press conference in Coral Gables, Florida, on Tuesday afternoon that he was not worried about it.
“No, I don’t have any concerns about anything in the sense that we are very attentive on any security question. Of course, the most important for us is to guarantee security for all the fans who come to the games. This is our priority,” said Infantino.
Kennedy also claimed in a post to X this week that a boat transporting people from a Telemundo party celebrating one year until the World Cup was stopped and boarded by the Coast Guard.
“They checked the immigration status of the staff on the boat. The mayor of Miami-Dade, FIFA officials, and Telemundo leadership were present,” Kennedy wrote in a post, which has received 5 million views.
The Coast Guard did not respond to a request for comment.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH THROWING MOLOTOV COCKTAIL DURING LOS ANGELES RIOTS
The matchups come nearly a year since the chaos of the Copa America soccer tournament final at Hard Rock Stadium last July.
Injured soccer fans who attended the game have sued the stadium and South American soccer’s governing organization, CONMEBOL, for not implementing an adequate safety plan for arriving fans, some of whom stormed the ticket gates and led to a stampede.