By Ricardo Roura
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna ruled out that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carry out raids against immigrants during the 2026 World Cup despite his participation in security operations.
Luna confirmed that The federal immigration agency will be part of the large security operation which is planned during the Soccer Cup, which has its first match in Los Angeles on June 12 at SoFi Stadium, which will be known as “Los Angeles Stadium” during the tournament.
“I called the head of National Security for the region and he confirmed that there will be federal agents, because everyone’s collaboration is required to guarantee security. However, regarding the immigration attach watch over, we were told that it would not take place in any of the games.“Luna declared.
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The head of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) acknowledged that The information you received from federal officials may change in the future..
“I trust that they are giving me the right information because, If this starts to happen, we will have endless problems“Luna added.
For several weeks, the alleged presence of federal immigration agents at the 2026 World Cup has caused concern among community members in Southern Californiaas well as visitors.
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The participation of ICE agents in the World Cup It comes a year after the agency intensified its immigration operations in Los Angeles and other Southern California counties on Friday, June 6, 2025.
ICE raids and arrests caused massive protests to break out in downtown Los Angeleswhich led President Trump to federalize the California National Guard to deploy it to the city, in addition to deploying Marines from Camp Pendleton.
SoFi Stadium service workers, represented by the union Unite Here Native 11, expressed their rejection of ICE’s participation during the World Cup, so they threatened to call a strike.
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The union plans vote this week to determine whether to authorize a work stoppage in rejection of the presence of ICE during the tournament, a decision that could become a new challenge for the organizers a few days before the start of the World Cup.
Los Angeles authorities have plans to deploy an important security concept for certain games scheduled at SoFi Stadiumwhich they consider high risk.
Luna mentioned that there will be additional deployment for the Iran team’s matches in Los Angelesdue to the geopolitical situation that currently prevails, which increases the risk of protests or concentrations in the vicinity of the stadium and in the fan areas.
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“We are all paying close attention to the entire event, but Iran represents a different dynamic due to current world events“he added.
The LASD chief added that security agencies have prepared contingency plans to respond to any incident that could occur inside or outside sports venues.
During the World Cup, the “Los Angeles Stadium” in Inglewood, will have eight matches in the 2026 World Cup.
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