On the eve of the World Cup, South Florida immigrant rights advocates urged FIFA and the Miami Host Committee to address concerns about increased U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement agents in Miami during the global soccer tournament.
At a press conference Wednesday outside FIFA World Cup headquarters in Coral Gables, the advocates condemned FIFA for doing little to protect athletes and fans from ICE and other federal authorities carrying out the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.
“Thirty-nine countries are under travel bans, including nations whose teams are on those fields right now. FIFA knew this and has said nothing,” said Adriana Granado with the Fair Immigration Reform Movement. “This is not neutrality. This is complicity.”
They also demanded that the Miami Host Committee prevent immigration enforcement at their venues. Advocates said that the committee failed to reassure them about ICE’s role in World Cup security.
“There has been no commitment around policies that will keep our families and our community safe,” said Yareliz Mendez-Zamora, the policy coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee Florida.
Renata Bozzetto, deputy director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, worries about the inadvertent effect of increased ICE presence in Miami: immigrants face an elevated risk while the World Cup is in their backyard.
”These are individuals who would be very excited to watch the games and to participate, cheer for their teams in the soccer match who are afraid,” said Bozzetto. “Afraid to go to Fan Fests, afraid to drive to the stadium, afraid to go to the neighborhood hangout place where they could meet other people.”
The presence of the 287(g) program in Miami, which deputizes local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws, further amplifies advocates’ concerns.
“We are in a dangerous moment,” said Bozzetto. “ Since August of last year, more than 26,000 people had an immigration encounter with local law enforcement, and more than 21,000 were actually arrested in our state.”
FIFA World Cup officials have downplayed or dismissed similar complaints.
The advocates’ concerns follows several recent incidents between U.S. Customs and Border Protectionnofficials and World Cup participants, fans and staff.
Mendez-Zamora recalled the denial of a Somalian referee into the Miami International Airport and extensive security screenings of athletes from Uzbekistan and Senegal, which included narcotic-sniffing dogs.
”You can't sign up to hold an international event and then ban nearly a quarter of the world, let ICE agents roam around with impunity, subject athletes and others to humiliating searches, and have referees turned away,” said Mendez-Zamora.
She noted a glaring contradiction: even though more countries than ever before are participating in the World Cup, four competing countries — Côte d'Ivoire, Haiti, Iran and Senegal – are under full or partial U.S. travel bans.
”Soccer has the ability to bring together families, to unite countries, and what we're seeing instead is fear and chaos in our communities, and for visitors and tourists,” said Mendez-Zamora.
