During World Cup, LA advocates have received uptick in calls for help with ICE

As Los Angeles revels in the World Cup, advocates who operate an ICE rapid-response hotline say they've seen an uptick in calls for help.

In June, Immigrant Defenders Law Center reported that its emergency phone line offering legal resources received nearly 900 calls — the second-highest number of calls in a single month this year. Sarah Houston, the attorney who oversees responses to that hotline, said July was on track to potentially be even higher.

The increase comes after months of concern over how ICE might interfere with the tournament. Despite fears, so far there have not been reports of immigration activity at the stadium or fan events. Immigration agents have been spotted outside SoFi Stadium during the matches hosted in L.A., but their presence has not appeared to include enforcement.

Instead, Houston said the daily drumbeat of arrests has continued across Los Angeles.

"I'm so happy that ICE hasn't ruined the World Cup by doing these mass raids, but they are still doing them piecemeal and one by one," she said. " In the background, the administration is still there, and these things are still happening. They're just not happening at SoFi Stadium."

Houston said recent reports that her office has received included a father who was arrested at a routine immigration check in in downtown Los Angeles in front of his wife and child and a man who was injured and later hospitalized after ICE arrested him in Burbank.

Meanwhile, immigrant arrests are up nationwide. The New York Times reported last week that immigration agents had detained more than 10,000 people in the span of five days, a sharp increase from earlier this year.

Minky Worden, director of Global Initiatives for Human Rights Watch, said the spike taints the celebrations of the World Cup around the country, where communities have welcomed fans and teams from around the globe.

"We have to look at the full context of these events. The soccer could be great. Your favorite team could be winning. The Mexico jerseys were just the best. … But what's happening behind the scenes?" she said. "Is the beautiful game covering up an ugly escalation of ICE arrests?"

Human Rights Watch had called for an "ICE Truce" after reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would play a key role in tournament security, but FIFA and the federal government made no guarantees.

In a statement provided by the Department of Homeland Security, acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis confirmed that the department was involved in policing the World Cup.

“The safety and security of the American people and the millions of visitors attending these events remain our highest priority," Bis said in a statement. “International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S. — full stop."

SoFi Stadium's food and beverage workers had threatened to strike over ICE's presence at the World Cup and made a deal with their employer averting the labor action just before the tournament started. Their new contract includes the right to walk off the job over safety concerns, including the presence of immigration agents at the workplace.

So far, workers have felt safe on the job, despite spotting ICE and Homeland Security agents on the stadium's perimeter, according to Kurt Petersen, co-president of their union, Unite Here Local 11.

But outside of the stadium, he said many of them have been affected by immigration enforcement in Los Angeles since the immigration raids that started last summer. Petersen said one union member was recently released from a detention center after being arrested on the street in front of his family.

" Raids are continuing, right? People are being kidnapped off the streets," Petersen said. " This is by no means something that has ended."

The final World Cup match in Los Angeles is this Friday.