As Super Bowl LX’s halftime show becomes a political lightning rod for immigration rights, the league isn’t anticipating any ICE presence at Sunday’s game.
During a press conference on Wednesday, the NFL‘s chief security officer, Cathy L. Lanier, said that officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement are not expected to be in attendance at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, where the Seahawks and Patriots will play for the championship.
“There are no planned ICE or immigration enforcement operations that are scheduled around the Super Bowl or any of the Super Bowl–related events,” she said at the press conference. “Consistent with previous years, we’re supported by more than 35 federal, state, and local agencies. All these agencies are here to ensure that the Super Bowl and the surrounding community are safe while we carry out all the fun activities around the Super Bowl.”
Lanier added, “There is no planned ICE enforcement activities. We are confident of that.”
Noting that the NFL has worked with the Department of Homeland Security “for more than 20 years, Lanier said they will dispatch a few different agencies, “that does not include ICE.” She added that there is “nothing on our radar” as far as ICE raids at the game.
“We have multiple intelligence groups that are working and monitoring different sources of intelligence, and we’ve had no credible or specific threats whatsoever,” added Lanier. “We’re feeling really good going into this period.
After Bad Bunny was tapped to perform this year’s halftime show, DHS secretary Kristi Noem warned that ICE will “be all over that place.”
Bad Bunny previously explained that he opted not to include any U.S. stops on his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour as he and his team were “very concerned” about his fans being subjected to threats of deportation.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate—I’ve performed there many times. All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been living in the U.S.,” he explained to i-D, adding: “There was the issue of—like, fucking ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
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