The World Cup visa rejects the US policy of extreme immigration and middle class

While European tourists marvel at the farm dressBuc-ee’s, and other wonders of Middle AmericaWorld Cup hopefuls from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East have encountered another American pastime: elimination. President Donald Trump’s racist views have prevented many people from traveling to the United States for the event – even, in some cases, the players.

Swiss player Breel Embolo they were not allowed to ride the group has fled the US due to the 2018 ruling and had to apply for an emergency visa. Prior to The US invasion of Iranthe Iranian team moved his educational base from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana, Mexico, after the State Department denied visas to several players. Customs and Border Protection agents has arrested Iraqi actor Aymen Hussein at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, where he was questioned for seven hours and his phone searched. The group’s artist was also arrested and banned from entering the US. CBP refused entry to Omar Abdulkadir Artanwho would have been the first referee in Somalia in the history of the World Cup, due to “vetting concerns,” although he had already been granted a visa.

Fans were also rejected. A Scottish visitor had his own the travel permit has been revoked An hour before his flight. The Trump administration has justified this, emphasizing that going to the United States is a privilege, not a right – and shows that some of the athletes who turned out to be a threat to America, even though they were some of the most talented soccer players in the world.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin – same to threaten pulling CBP from airports in so-called “sanctuary cities” before the World Cup – defended visa denials, as did Andrew Giuliani, the White House’s chief of staff for the World Cup. “The players, in particular, if they didn’t have the World Cup, they wouldn’t be allowed to enter the United States,” Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s son, he told CBS News. In a statement, Giuliani said Artan, a Somali judge, was denied entry because officials discovered he was talking to “very bad people.” Meanwhile, CBP officials said Artan had contact “with suspected terrorist organizations.”

Jules Boykoff, author Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machinehe described the Trump administration’s treatment of foreign travelers as an unusual break from the World Cup. “When you bought a ticket to the men’s World Cup in Russia in 2018 or the men’s World Cup in Qatar in 2022, it was like getting a visa,” Boykoff said. Your ticket was your visa. This is not happening with the United States.

Boykoff, a professor of political science at Pacific University, said the 2017 agreement between Mexico, the US, and Canada for the World Cup promised that international travel would be better. In addition to saying that fans will get free transportation to the stadiums, the three countries promised that crossing their borders will be easier for players and attendees.

Even FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who presented Trump with the first FIFA Peace Prize, said a trip to the US would be fine despite the president’s immigration policies. “Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States at the FIFA World Cup next year,” he said he said in 2025. “This will be good, and it will ensure that those who are eligible will be able to come with their fans.”

“There are a lot of promises that have been made that this will be better,” Boykoff said. “FIFA has this phrase that they overuse: ‘Football has united the world.’ Trump’s World Cup comments on immigration and visas divide the world. “

Last December, the Trump administration imposed strict restrictions on the citizens of 39 countries. Some – including Haiti and Iran, both playing in the World Cup – have banned visas, while others, such as Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, should be “slightly suspended” in processing visas, including tourists and business travelers. The cost of the ACLU provided travel advice in April, warned travelers that “deteriorating human rights in the United States” could lead to travelers being arbitrarily turned away, arrested, detained, and deported. A federal judge temporarily suspended the curfew at the beginning of June, but by that time it was too late for many fans to plan a trip to the US, a very secure visa.

A few days before the World Cup, the organization of Iran fan tickets had been cancelled for his three US games, barring thousands of fans from attending Los Angeles and Seattle. Adding to the problem, Iranian player Mehdi Torabi received a single entry visa in the US, meaning they cannot return to the country after leaving. Giuliani, of the White House World Cup team, said The Associated Press that US officials worked with FIFA to ensure that Iranian players entered the country before the games. He also said that some Iranian officials will be denied entry, saying, “as you can imagine, there are some people who claim to be coaches who cannot be teachers,” meaning that some people associated with the Iranian team have ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The US has since eased sanctions on the Iranian teamallowing players to enter the country two days before his Friday game in Seattle.

Even fans from countries not on the travel ban list have had trouble getting visas. Abu Kass, head of the Jordanian fan association, he told the BBC that he took more than 42 documents for his visa in Amman, but his application was rejected. “If the leader of the fan club is rejected,” he asked, “who will be accepted?” Kass said he only knew of one Jordanian fan who had been granted a World Cup visa. Many Moroccan fans – including members of the country’s charity organizations – were he says they refused visas even though they had tickets to a match in the US. Based on this rejection, a member of the Moroccan parliament asked the country’s foreign minister asking the US to provide valid reasons for visa denial.

Infantino has responded well to all this by telling everyone to calm down, stressing that FIFA cannot control the borders of any country. “It is sad what happened to Omar, the Somali judge, but we are not in control of anything,” Infantino. he said at a press conference before the World Cup in Mexico City. “We try, we will talk, we will see, maybe sometimes it is better to chill, to relax. We try to do everything, we try to solve everything.”

But DHS has doubled. Although the administration did not make good on Mullin’s threat to remove CBP from airports in sanctuary cities, border czar Tom Homan continues to say that. ICE will land in New Yorkand the authorities have said that ICE can be sent to the host cities of the World Cup to assist local law enforcement.

Todd Schulte, president of the immigration reform group FWD.us, said the threat of mass shootings at stadiums is questionable, but he acknowledged that increased ICE numbers in the cities they live in could increase immigration.

“They’re taking all government measures to crack down on immigrants, but Greg Bovino. Call of Duty killing an army,” said Schulte.” Instead, the rulers are looking at the people through an official immigration system in allowing ICE to engage in racial profilingand deprive people of legal responsibility. Schulte pointed to the recent Supreme Court decision allowing Trump to revoke Temporary Protected Status for citizens of Syria and Haiti, which will result in the deportation of thousands of people. Trump’s approach to enforcement, Schulte said, is now more “widespread and legitimate” than ever. “He’s trying to stay out of sight.”

Areas in host cities are preparing for chaos. In Houston, volunteers with Organized Power in Numbers (OPIN) dressed as protesters and handed out “red cards” to fans outside Shell Energy Stadium. These documents inform people of their rights when dealing with ICE and other law enforcement agencies – even if they are not citizens. Volunteers also helped local business owners put up “operators only” signs to ensure certain areas of their businesses are out of reach of law enforcement, and showed them how to distinguish between administrative and judicial warrants, which ICE rarely gets.

Mauricio Escobar, an organizer with OPIN, said ICE has increased its presence in Houston over the past year and said the group is preparing for more people to flood the city during the World Cup. “We know that ICE and DHS will be here to work as flood police, but that doesn’t mean they won’t do other things,” Escobar said, adding that OPIN is aware of ICE-type activities.

Just like the Olympics, hosting the biggest event of the world’s most popular sports should be a blessing in disguise for national pride. But Trump’s stance on immigration has taken a turn for the worse since his return to office, and his second term has been marked by an unprecedented crackdown on immigration, particularly from countries he views as inferior. Since the US, Canada, and Mexico began campaigning for the World Cup in 2017, it is possible that no one – not even Trump himself – thought that Trump would still be in office almost a decade later, when the country would be inviting thousands of foreigners to its shores. Bringing people from all walks of life together in one place is what the World Cup is all about, but for the US president, the most important message seems to be that even at a global event, some people aren’t there.