\n<\/p>\n
Washington, DC \u2013<\/strong> The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International, along with more than 120 civil society groups, have issued a \u201ctravel advisory\u201d for foreigners attending the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.<\/p>\n The warning released on Thursday points to the \u201cdeteriorating human rights situation in the United States and in the absence of meaningful action and concrete guarantees from FIFA, host cities, or the US government\u201d.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n It comes as some international organisations and fans have raised concerns about how this year\u2019s World Cup, which begins in June and will host games across Mexico, Canada and the United States, will interact with the administration of US President Donald Trump\u2019s hardline immigration policies.<\/p>\n Between 5 and 10 million visitors are expected to travel to the US for the event.<\/p>\n \u201cFIFA has been paying lip service to human rights while cosying up with the Trump administration, putting millions of people at risk of being harmed and their basic rights violated,\u201d Jamil Dakwar, ACLU human rights programme director, said in a statement upon Thursday\u2019s release.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s abusive actions continue to threaten our communities, tourists, and fans alike \u2013 and it\u2019s past time that FIFA use its leverage to push for meaningful policy changes and binding assurances that will make people feel safe to travel and enjoy the games,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Jennifer Li, who leads Dignity 2026, a national coalition working with grassroots groups in host cities, said with the World Cup quickly approaching, \u201cWe are still waiting for public commitments from FIFA and host city organisers about plans to protect residents, workers, and visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe silence has been deafening,\u201d Li said.<\/p>\n In a statement to Al Jazeera, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said the 2026 World Cup \u201cwill no doubt be one of the greatest and most spectacular events in the history of mankind, attracting millions of fans from around the world to eleven host cities across America\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump is focused on ensuring that this is not only an incredible experience for all fans and visitors, but \u2026 also the safest and most secure in history \u2013 and no amount of ridiculous scare tactics driven by liberal activist groups and the left-wing media will change that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The advisory pointed to six areas of risk for those attending the World Cup, calling on \u201cfans, players, journalists, and other visitors to exercise caution and have an emergency contingency plan when travelling to and within the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n It warned of \u201carbitrary denial of entry and risk of arrest, detention or deportation of non-US nationals\u201d at ports of entry, pointing to US Customs and Border Protection agents\u2019 \u201cbroad discretion to admit, detain, or deny entry\u201d, as well as \u201cinvasive social media screening\u201d.<\/p>\n It also warned of \u201cexpanded restrictions and limitations on travel and entry into the United States\u201d.<\/p>\n At least 39 countries are currently subject to wide-ranging US travel bans, which offer only narrow exceptions. Two teams competing in the World Cup, Iran and Haiti, are subject to bans on all immigrant and non-immigrant visas, according to the American Immigration Council, while two others, Ivory Coast and Senegal, are subject to partial bans.<\/p>\n Five qualifying countries \u2013 \u00a0Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia \u2013 are also subject to Trump\u2019s \u201cVisa Bond Program\u201d, which requires citizens of 50 countries to post a $15,000 bond before travelling to the US.<\/p>\n Trump, meanwhile, has suggested that Iran\u2019s team may not be safe if it competes in the US, although he maintained the players remained \u201cwelcome\u201d amid the US-Israeli war with Iran.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the Financial Times reported that a US envoy had asked FIFA to replace Iran with Italy. FIFA has not confirmed the request, but had previously maintained the Iranian team had the right to participate.<\/p>\n Several of the civil society groups\u2019 warnings concerned immigration enforcement after visitors entered the US.<\/p>\n While the role of immigration enforcement agents at the World Cup has not been made clear, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons said in February that the agency would play a \u201ckey part\u201d in security.<\/p>\n In a post on X on Wednesday, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, Markwayne Mullin, said the department will be \u201cworking alongside the task force and @FIFAcom to ensure all US-based matches are safe and secure\u201d.<\/p>\n The civil society groups warned of \u201cviolent and unconstitutional immigration enforcement, including racial profiling and other discrimination by law enforcement\u201d.<\/p>\n They pointed to the Trump administration\u2019s enforcement surges in cities across the country since he took office in January 2025, which rights groups and local law enforcement have alleged involved \u201cdragnet\u201d tactics based on individuals\u2019 perceived races.<\/p>\n Since Trump took office, immigration agents have been involved in dozens of shootings, including the killings of protesters Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January.<\/p>\n The groups also warned of \u201csuppression of speech and protest and increased surveillance\u201d, pointing to instances where non-citizens, including permanent residents, have been targeted for expressing \u201cpolitical opinions that diverge from those of the current administration\u201d.<\/p>\n They specifically cited instances of individuals being targeted for \u201cactivism in support of Palestinian rights\u201d, a group that has included several high-profile student advocates.<\/p>\n The final point cautioned over conditions in US immigration detention facilities, warning of \u201cserious risk of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and in some cases, death\u201d. Several reports have recorded 32 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, the deadliest year in more than 20 years.<\/p>\n At least 14 people have died in ICE custody in 2026, according to several reports.<\/p>\n The civil society groups recommended an array of precautions for those attending the World Cup.<\/p>\n They included securing electronic devices, downloading an app that can immediately notify emergency contacts of detention and brushing up on so-called \u201cknow your rights\u201d resources.<\/p>\n Daniel Norona, the Americas advocacy director with Amnesty International USA, heaped pressure on FIFA to ensure foreign visitors were not swept up in the Trump administration\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the US government and host cities cannot guarantee the rights and safety of all, this tournament risks falling far short of FIFA\u2019s promise of a safe, welcoming, and inclusive event, for travelling fans, journalists, players, and people already living in the US alike,\u201d Norona said in a statement.<\/p>\n In early April, the athletic sports news site in April reported that FIFA President Gianni Infantino was considering a direct appeal to Trump to suspend immigration enforcement surrounding the event.<\/p>\n In a statement to Al Jazeera, a FIFA spokesperson said that, per the organisation\u2019s statutes, it \u201cis committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights\u201d.<\/p>\n The spokesperson pointed to several human rights strategies and frameworks it had developed for the 2026 World Cup as \u201cevidence of FIFA\u2019s commitment to human rights across all key activities and actors connected to the tournament\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Washington, DC \u2013 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Amnesty International, along with more than 120 civil society groups, have issued a \u201ctravel advisory\u201d for foreigners attending the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. The warning released on Thursday points to the \u201cdeteriorating human rights situation in the United States and in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
\u2018Have an emergency contingency plan\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Violent and unconstitutional immigration enforcement\u2019<\/h2>\n
Rights groups recommend precautions<\/h2>\n
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