For months, Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee have been warning that the Trump administration’s far-reaching immigration enforcement agenda will tarnish the 2026 World Cup. Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) has a new proposal to prevent that from happening.
Under a bill Pou introduced this morning, the Save the World Cup Act, the Department of Homeland Security would be prohibited from conducting any “civil immigration enforcement activities” within one mile of any World Cup match or Fan Festival, with a handful of exceptions. In a statement, Pou said that fans and players alike – many of whom will be coming into America from other countries – should not have to worry about what ICE will do.
“When I recently asked the head of ICE directly for a simple assurance that they would stay away from the games, he refused,” Pou said. “That is unacceptable. So my legislation draws a firm line on the pitch: no ICE raids.”
DHS activities and their effects on the World Cup are an important issue in Pou’s home turf for more reasons than one. MetLife Stadium, where the World Cup’s final match will be played, is located in Pou’s 9th congressional district; the district is also home to a plurality-Hispanic population, which has been more impacted by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown than any other group.
Pou’s new bill, which also counts fellow Homeland Security Committee member LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) as a co-sponsor, is unlikely to make much headway in GOP-controlled Washington before the World Cup kicks off this summer. It’s the continuation of a fight, though, that Pou has been waging since arriving in Congress last year.
As the Democratic leader of a Homeland Security task force focused on upcoming major sporting events, Pou has been at the forefront of Democrats’ World Cup policies and messaging. The congresswoman confronted top Homeland Security officials on the issue of ICE presence at World Cup games, and has also pushed for frozen security grant money to start flowing into host cities; she announced earlier this week that the latter push has succeeded, with $625 million in funds being released.
Republicans believe the immigration issue has political downsides for Pou, one of only a handful of Democrats who holds a Trump-won congressional district. In their efforts to unseat her this year, they’ve honed in on her vote against the Laken Riley Act and her refusal to support a funding bill to reopen DHS from its now monthlong shutdown.
None of that has stopped Pou, however, and a more recent election result shows that voters in her district might be on her side: Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Pou ally, made huge gains with Hispanic voters last year and carried the 9th district by 20 percentage points.