The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week addressed growing questions about the presence of ICE agents during World Cup games hosted in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities this summer.
Todd Lyons, the agency's head, said at a congressional hearing that ICE will play a key role in security for the tournament. But he said it would be ICE’s investigatory branch — not it's enforcement division.
The answer did not satisfy Congressmember Nellie Pou (D-NJ) of New Jersey. Pou asked Lyons to publicly commit to ICE pausing operations at FIFA matches and related public events.
"You realize that if they feel that they're going to be wrongfully incarcerated or wrongfully pulled out," Pou said of potential World Cup visitors. "That's going to hurt this entire process."
Lyons responded: "ICE is dedicated to ensuring that everyone that visits the facilities will have a safe and secure event."
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Why it matters
The exchange laid bare growing concerns from some lawmakers and community groups about the combination of millions of international visitors coming to the soccer spectacle and aggressive immigration enforcement in L.A. and other host cities.
Kathryn Schloessman, L.A. host committee head, called the matter "above my pay grade" when asked to address concerns about potential ICE activity at FIFA's fan festival, which is scheduled for June 11 to 15.
" We are working very closely with our public safety and security partners," Schloessman told LAist. "That's their job to make sure we're delivering a safe and secure event."
It also underscores the lack of human rights action plans that every host city committee is supposed to release ahead of the games. Those plans should outline how the host city is planning to protect freedom of expression and handle security and workers' rights.
The lack of public plans, less than five month out, has some critics ringing an alarm.
" It's a very poor report card on turning in your homework for Los Angeles and all other host cities," said Minky Worden with Human Rights Watch.
FIFA declined to comment on the status of the local reports. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee said that the L.A. action plan is under review with community stakeholders.
What we know about World Cup security
The World Cup will be staged across Mexico, Canada and eleven U.S. cities including Los Angeles, where eight matches will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The tournament is expected to attract up to 7 million international visitors to the U.S., and the federal government has allocated $625 million in funding for security tied to the event.
At a briefing in December, Andrew Giuliani, the executive director for the White House's World Cup task force, told reporters that the Department of Homeland Security is "coordinating daily" with host cities on security for fan zones, stadiums and base camps — where athletes will train throughout the tournament.
Homeland Security's leading role in security for an event as massive as the World Cup is standard procedure — the department is also taking the lead for the 2028 Olympics. What's less clear is exactly the part ICE will play.
What we know about ICE's role in security
Lyons, the ICE leader who addressed Congress this week, said it would be the agency's Homeland Security Investigations that would take on a key role. That's the department's criminal investigation unit, which is separate from its "Enforcement and Removal Operations" branch that has been conducting escalated immigration sweeps across Los Angeles — and the nation — since June.
That said, the federal government has not promised that immigration enforcement will stay away from the tournament.
“International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about," Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security spokesperson, told the Athletic. "What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S. — full stop.”
DHS did not respond to LAist's requests for more information on the role ICE specifically will play in World Cup security.
Human rights concerns
These open questions and the ongoing immigration raids have alarmed human rights advocates. A group of leading advocacy organizations in December called on FIFA and local host cities to commit to "ensuring effective protections against racial profiling, arbitrary detention, and unlawful immigration enforcement during the tournament."
Jamil Dakwar, the ACLU's human rights director, pointed to the deployment of the National Guard in cities including Los Angeles last year.
“The Trump administration has aggressively pursued a systematic anti-human rights campaign to target, detain, and disappear immigrants in communities across the US," he said in a statement. "We call on FIFA to honor its human rights commitments, not capitulate to Trump’s authoritarianism.”
FIFA put out a Human Rights framework for the coming World Cup in 2024. That guide, outlining a focus on inclusivity, workers rights, and a grievance procedure for human rights concerns, is intended to be a structure for each host city's own human rights action plan.
Details about the games in L.A.
L.A. will be the first U.S. city to host a World Cup match. The U.S. Men's National Team will play its first game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on June 12, with a 6 p.m. kickoff.
A fan festival at L.A. Memorial Coliseum June 11 to 15 is expected to attract huge crowds of revelers.
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L.A. is one of 16 cities across North America hosting games in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The championship series is June 11 to July 19, 2026.
