U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not be seen at World Cup matches this summer, according to the co-chair of the Miami host committee.
Rodney Barreto told The Athletic on Thursday that he received reassurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ICE would steer clear of the world soccer showcase.
“ICE is not going to be at the stadium,” Barreto told The Athletic. “This is not going to turn into some ‘round them up’ type of thing. That’s not the purpose of this.
“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.”
Barreto added, “I spoke to Marco and, first of all, he’s going to make sure that the passports get processed and people can get here and there is an orderly process so people won’t be held up. It’s going to be a major undertaking by the federal government to do that. We feel very comfortable that we’re going to be in good hands.”
