The Florida Immigrant Coalition, along with other immigrant advocates, said Friday they are skeptical about a pledge from the Trump administration that immigration enforcement agents would not operate at FIFA World games during next month's tournament.
The outcry follows comments from Rodney Barreto, chair of the Miami FIFA World Cup Host Committee, who told The Athletic this week that Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured him that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were "not going to be at the stadium."'
"A lot of people are talking (and saying), 'Well, ICE will be at the stadium'. I talked to Marco Rubio. ICE is not going to be at the stadium. This is not going to turn into some 'round them up' type of thing. That's not the purpose of this," Barreto told The Athletic.
"It'll be a great experience for everybody. I think that we're lucky that we do have a president who loves sports and has given us the resources to reimburse the cities for their police protection."
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In a statement on Friday, Yareliz Zamora, Florida coordinator for American Friends Service Committee, said "a personal assurance is not policy, and it is not protection."
"If the administration truly intends to ensure that immigrants, mixed-status families, and international visitors can safely attend World Cup events, then it must formally announce a moratorium on immigration enforcement connected to the tournament," Zamora said.
Thomas Kennedy, a policy analyst with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, emphasized that the presence of any law enforcement can be a real source of fear for mixed-status families.
"In Florida, this is not simply an ICE issue," Kennedy said. "Local police departments have been transformed into immigration agents through 287(g) agreements and other enforcement partnerships. For many immigrant families, there is no meaningful distinction between ICE and local police anymore."
Police departments in all 67 Florida counties have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE. It authorizes local police to act as federal immigration enforcement agents in carrying out President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation strategy.
The coalition and other immigrant advocates say that public guarantees prohibiting immigration enforcement activity before and during the World Cup must be formalized in writing.
They are demanding a formal federal moratorium on immigration enforcement operations tied to FIFA World Cup events; "clear public guidance" prohibiting enforcement actions at stadiums, fan zones, transit hubs and hotels; and transparency regarding the role of local law enforcement agencies participating in immigration enforcement partnerships.
The FIFA World Cup tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 in cities, including Miami, across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The 65,000-seat Hard Rock Stadium will host four group stage matches in South Florida between June 15 and June 27, a knock-out match on July 3, a quarterfinal match on July 11 and the July 18 match for third place.
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