SAN FRANCISCO – Security at the Super Bowl has always been of paramount concern, typically drawing its fair share of attention outside of the big game itself.
But the critical topic that traditionally focuses on the scores of highly visible (and not-so-visible) federal and local law enforcement officers on scene, an undisclosed number of surveillance cameras and various high-tech command centers scanning the skies above and every entrance and everything in between, has been vastly overshadowed by the specter of Immigration and Customs Enforcement imposing its presence across the San Francisco Bay Area.
Yet, days before the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks clash at Levi's Stadium on Feb. 8, NFL Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier said ICE will not be anywhere around, and Homeland Security, the department that oversees it, will not conduct any immigration enforcement.
"We are confident of that. Our Department of Homeland Security, who’s been our partner for more than 20 years now and is made up of more than 20 different departments, will send a variety of different agencies," Lanier said during a press conference, addressing multiple questions about the deployment of federal agents.
