Tensions between the local community and the immigrant community are rising as there are speculations that immigration enforcement agents will be deployed to the Super Bowl, the largest sports festival in the United States. The Super Bowl is the championship game of National Football League (NFL), the most popular sport in the United States.
According to foreign media such as the British daily Guardian, there has been a possibility that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be deployed to the 60th Super Bowl game to be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on the 8th of next month.
Foreign media reported that although deployment of personnel for security is routine, it is unusual for ICE personnel, whose main job is immigration enforcement, to be mobilized for a large-scale sporting event.
Matt Mahan, mayor of San Jose, California, a Democrat, said in an interview with local media, “I have received word from the federal government that it will deploy ICE at the Super Bowl site,” and “I don’t know if it’s just rhetoric.”
In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not disclose specific personnel or operational plans, but made a general statement that “we are cooperating with local and federal partners to ensure that the Super Bowl can be held safely,” and that “there is no reason to be afraid as long as the law is not broken.”
Local public opinion is not friendly. This is because there is growing anger over excessive enforcement following the recent incident in which two citizens lost their lives due to shooting by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Foreign media reported that vulnerable groups, such as immigrant families, are anxious that a large-scale crackdown will take place during this Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, ICE plans to dispatch agents to the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, which open next month. Negative voices are coming out in Italy, saying, “It will not be welcome.”
Reporter Go Seong-pyo muzes@joongang.co.kr
