No plans for Customs and Border Protection to be at FIFA Club World Cup in Charlotte
United States Customs and Border Protection is not slated to work at the FIFA Club World Cup matches in Charlotte this month, the agency said.
Agency spokesperson Rob Brisley told The Charlotte Observer that no one has asked for agents to be at Bank of America Stadium. Real Madrid and C.F. Pachuca are set to compete there on Sunday. More matches are scheduled for Charlotte later this month, including Bayern Munich and S.L. Benfica on Tuesday.
The New York Times reported on a since-deleted social media post by the agency, in which it said agents would be “suited and booted” to provide security at games.
“Right now, we haven’t heard that request for Charlotte or Atlanta,” Brisley said. “It could change in the future.”
It’s unclear if Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be at uptown’s stadium. That agency has been showing up in increasingly public places across Mecklenburg County. ICE previously said noncitizens in Miami should bring proof of legal status to Club World Cup matches. A spokesperson in Charlotte did not respond to several requests for comment.
FIFA declined to comment for this story.
Months of arrests in Charlotte
ICE has been making increasingly public arrests in Mecklenburg County over the last several months, stoking fear and outrage.
Recent incidents have included agents waiting outside uptown’s courthouse, arresting a father near a school’s drop-off line, stationing themselves at a church during preschool hours and even chasing a man into a pond.
One local group, Carolina Migrant Network, said it “always holds concern” about immigration enforcement agencies surveilling people — “especially given the escalation of targeted activity we’ve seen in the Carolinas.”
“While we are not aware of any specific enforcement presence planned at these (Club World Cup) events, we know that the risk is never zero,” the group said in a statement. “We encourage individuals to assess their comfort and safety when attending public gatherings.”
Might drive fans away, one says
Rumors of CBP’s and ICE’s presence will likely discourage some fans from attending, said Jay Landskroener, a founding member of Charlotte FC support group Mint City Collective. He is also a board member and leads chants at matches as a capo.
The group started in 2019 and has more than a thousand members today. Its slogan is “Welcome One, Welcome Y’all.”
“I think a lot of fans are going to feel the potential of being targeted, which in turn will make this whole event less likely to succeed as well as FIFA would like it to,” he said. “A lot of fans — if they’re not going to feel comfortable walking to the stadium because they feel like somebody’s going to stop them to check their papers — they’re just not going to go.”
Club World Cup matches have already seen low attendance, the BBC recently reported.
“There are people that are already struggling in their own personal lives, and they don’t need this extra stress,” Landskroener said. “Sports are an escape from that... If ICE is going to take that away from people, they’re taking away part of their culture.”
In California this week, ICE agents were reportedly near or on Dodger Stadium grounds.
ICE came to the stadium and asked to access its parking lots, but the Los Angeles Dodgers denied that request, according to the team. ICE denied the claim.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.