ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the principal US federal agency for immigration interior enforcement, border security investigation and customs law, established in 2003 under the Department of Homeland Security. It operates through Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), which arrests and deports undocumented immigrants, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which targets transnational crime. Acting director Todd Lyons told Congress in March 2026 the agency would be 'a key part of the overall security apparatus' for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On 7 July 2026 an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston, a host city, while he drove a work crew to a construction site; the Department of Homeland Security says he used his vehicle as a weapon, while passengers in the vehicle told reporters no agent stood in front of it and the shots came from the side.

A Human Rights Watch April 2026 audit recorded at least 167,000 arrests across eleven US World Cup host-city regions between 20 January 2025 and 10 March 2026, with Houston (26,483), Dallas (22,388) and Atlanta (13,985) among the highest-volume areas; three host cities, Dallas, Houston and Miami, signed 287(g) collaboration agreements deputising local police to enforce federal immigration law, while eight others, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, declined or kept sanctuary policies. HRW's 22 July 2026 post-tournament review put the same custody-death toll at 54 deaths before kickoff and two more since, and found 12 of 16 host cities still lacked a published human rights action plan by its 11 May deadline. UNITE HERE Local 11's roughly 2,000 SoFi Stadium hospitality workers voted 96% for strike authorisation before reaching a 9 June agreement securing a contractual right to walk off if ICE threatens worker safety during a match.

ICE's enforcement posture extends beyond the tournament. As a Department of Homeland Security component, it took part in the $250 million c-UAS counter-drone grant programme staged across World Cup host states in May 2026 alongside FEMA. In US domestic politics, ICE's enforcement volume, which accelerated sharply from January 2025 under the Trump administration, has been a flashpoint for the White House's immigration agenda and a driver of Democratic legislative responses, including three House bills to restrict ICE near World Cup venues; the agency's data-sharing with tournament organisers also raised privacy concerns under the CCPA.