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06-12-2025
WASHINGTON: A White House committee organizing the 2026 World Cup in the United States says the event will be a “global moment of unity”.
“We want to make sure that we’re as welcoming as possible,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House Task Force on the World Cup, told reporters on Wednesday but US President Donald Trump’s escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies are raising concern over Washington’s promise of a welcoming tournament.
Giuliani talked up the US Department of State’s efforts to shorten wait times for interviews for visitor visas, allowing fans from across the world to come to the US during the World Cup, which Mexico and Canada will co-host.
Despite Giuliani’s assurances, he also confirmed that there will be no special World Cup exemptions for fans from 19 countries that are under a US travel ban. He also did not rule out targeting undocumented immigrants for removal around matches.
Daniel Norona, America’s advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, slammed the US administration’s approach.
“You cannot have unity if you’re promoting discrimination, if you’re promoting repression, and if you’re pushing to silence anyone who disagrees with you,” Norona told media.
“So I don’t think that we can call this a moment of unity if they are doing the opposite of what unity means.”
Two of the nations included in the travel ban Haiti and Iran are participating in the tournament.
Asked repeatedly about the travel restrictions, Giuliani kept reiterating that players and direct support staff from banned countries will be issued visas, but that fans may not. “Visas are a national security issue, each and every one of those there,” he said but the US has already refused to issue visas for some members of the Iranian delegation to attend the World Cup group stage draw on Friday.
Giuliani also dismissed the effect of the travel ban on Haitian fans, noting that the national team’s coach, Sebastien Migne, recently said that he has never been to the Caribbean nation, which has been plagued by gang violence, humanitarian crises and natural disasters.
Trump’s ban also applies to Haitians outside Haiti. And Norona highlighted that the crackdown could affect Haitians inside the US who may want to cheer on their team as the Trump administration continues to roll back immigration protections for the country.
Norona said Trump’s policies are the “antithesis” to the World Cup, which is synonymous with openness and welcoming people from across the globe.
“We are concerned that this will create a non-welcoming and overall hostile environment for the fans and players and everybody who is involved in the World Cup,” Norona told media.
Giuliani did not rule out Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids targeting undocumented immigrants at World Cup venues.
The US is home to about 14 million people without regular immigration status, including many from the football-loving Latino community, who have lived in the country for years and established new lives and families.
“I’ve known the president for 25 years,” said Giuliani, who is the son of Trump’s former personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. “The president does not rule out anything that will help make American citizens safer.”
Norona said the immigration raids do not make anyone safe.
“They just promote a chilling effect for the rest of the fans and the rest of the football community that want to attend their games,” he said. (Int’l News Desk)
