The agents of the US immigration authorities ICE should not play any role around the Super Bowl next Sunday in California. Cathy Lanier, head of security for the US football league NFL, made this known on Tuesday. She contradicted recent media reports. “There are no planned ICE operations targeting fans this week surrounding the Super Bowl or related events,” Lanier said.
The NFL final is the largest annual sporting event in the USA, and this year it will take place in Santa Clara at the San Francisco 49ers stadium. Corey Lewandowski, a senior advisor to US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, announced operations around the finale last year. “There is no place that can provide a safe haven for people who are in this country illegally – not at the Super Bowl and not anywhere else,” Lewandowski said.
Security chief Lanier was now “convinced” that “no ICE enforcement measures” were planned: “ICE will not be on duty with us at the Super Bowl.”
The actions of heavily armed and masked ICE officers against supposedly illegal immigrants ordered by the government of US President Donald Trump are causing uncertainty and a countermovement in several US cities. In January, a U.S. citizen was killed in Minneapolis by federal agents as part of the large-scale operation.
