The article below first appeared on June 12, 2026, in the New York Times’ sports section, The Athletic. It reports that UNITE HERE Local 11 shop stewards distributed ‘Kick ICE Out’ union buttons to stadium workers to wear at the Los Angeles venue that hosted the World Cup match between the U.S. and Paraguay teams the same day.

Local 11 represents “over 2,000 workers at the venue who largely work in food and beverage concessions, including cooks, dishwashers, servers and bartenders,” the article noted. “The Athletic received images of both cooks and bartenders wearing the buttons.”

“The First Amendment doesn’t end when you clock in,” said Kurt Peterson, co-president of the union. “Our members have a right to wear a union button, and this one carries a message they believe in: ICE Out of FIFA,” he added, using the acronyms of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the International Federation of Association Football.

This action is a sign of the widespread opposition within the working class to the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant campaign of mass deportations. It also sets an important example for the labor movement that should be emulated and championed by all unions.

This piece of good news from the sports world stands in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s shameful actions in the lead up to the launching on June 11 of the World Cup, which is co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

“President Trump promoted the 2026 World Cup as a historic opportunity to showcase the ‘beauty and greatness’ of America,” said an article in the June 12 Wall Street Journal.

“Instead, the kickoff of the first game on U.S. soil on Friday [June 12] has coincided with airport detentions, visa denials, and global criticism that his hard-line immigration policies are undermining America’s role as host of the world’s biggest sporting event,” the Journal continued.

“More than two dozen World Cup players, staff and officials have encountered visa and entry problems into the U.S. This includes the high-profile detention of a FIFA-selected Somali referee, whose case drew worldwide attention when he was questioned for more than 10 hours at the Miami airport before being placed in a holding cell and removed from the U.S. Officials later said they found suspected associations with members of a terror group.

“The tournament has already brought crowds of international fans to U.S. host cities from Boston and Miami to Kansas City. But others have reported spending thousands on tickets, flights and hotels only to be denied visas.”

We publish the article that follows for the information of our readers. The headline, text, and photos below are from the original.

— World-Outlook editors

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SoFi Stadium workers given ‘Kick ICE Out’ buttons by union ahead of USMNT-Paraguay

By Adam Crafton

June 12, 2026, Updated 5:49 pm EDT

Union shop stewards inside SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles are handing out buttons which read ‘Kick ICE Out’ for workers to wear at the venue hosting FIFA’s World Cup match between the United States and Paraguay on Friday night.

The Unite Here Local Eleven union represents over 2,000 workers at the venue who largely work in food and beverage concessions, including cooks, dishwashers, servers and bartenders. The Athletic received images of both cooks and bartenders wearing the buttons.

The union said the language of their agreement with the stadium operators, Legends Global, permits employees to wear “one (1) official Union button while on duty.”

“The First Amendment doesn’t end when you clock in,” said Kurt Peterson, co-president of the union. “Our members have a right to wear a union button, and this one carries a message they believe in: ICE Out of FIFA.

“These workers are hospitality professionals. Their job is to welcome guests and provide world-class service to every fan who walks through the gates. But it’s hard to create a welcoming environment when workers and their communities are living in fear. They’re wearing this button because they want a World Cup that’s safe and welcoming for everyone at SoFi.

“No employer, no stadium operator, and not even FIFA gets to take away workers’ voices when it comes to the safety of their families and communities. And from what we’re hearing, fans love the message too. Some are even asking for the buttons.”

The unionized workers voted 96 per cent in favor of authorizing a strike last Friday after several rounds of failed bargaining negotiations with the stadium operators, Legends Global. Following the strike threat, a deal was reached earlier this week, which included a 40 per cent increase in pay for attendants at concessions stands, as well as premium pay for mega-events, including all eight World Cup games”, while they have also negotiated an ongoing contribution to the union’s housing fund which goes towards ensuring more affordable homes for hospitality workers.

They also secured a clause in the agreement that permits workers to walk off the job if the union believes that the presence of federal agents, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), creates a “reasonable apprehension of harm to the safety and security of workers.”

The union has expressed concerns about the role of ICE at the World Cup for several months, with mixed signals coming from the U.S. administration over the extent of their involvement in the tournament, major concerns remain for its members about the potential presence of ICE around World Cup cities and venues this June and July.

Lauren Bis, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said it was “steadfast” in its “commitment to the safety and security of the American people and attendees of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”

The statement added: “DHS is intricately involved in the whole of government approach securing the 11 host city sites across the nation, including Los Angeles.

“There’s no reason to be afraid of law enforcement, unless you are breaking the law. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S. — full stop.

“This is gross. America’s brave ICE agents put their lives on the line every day to enforce U.S. law and arrest criminal illegal aliens — including gang members, rapists, and murderers. The vilification of ICE must stop. This type of rhetoric is contributing to a more than 1300 per cent increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line.

“They should be thanking our law enforcement for removing these dangerous criminals—NOT vilifying law enforcement. While these people smear ICE, law enforcement is arresting criminals and saving countless American lives.”

FIFA, who have been approached for comment, do not allow fans to bring “any materials” into World Cup venues that are of a “political” nature. They also expect players and federations to be neutral in matters of politics and religion, according to their statutes.

However, FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino has been accused over the past year of breaching this policy due to his relationship with President Donald Trump, by awarded him the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, encouraging people to support Trump in his work and then when he wore a Trump-supporting baseball cap while attending a Trump-led Board of Peace summit.

Trump is not due to attend the World Cup match on Friday evening [June 12] but his administration has representation from a delegation which includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. ICE raids have been a feature of Trump’s second term, after a campaign which promised mass deportations and more stringent immigration policies.

In an interview in April, the union’s co-president Petersen and communications executive Maria Hernandez both said that the presence of ICE is a priority for the union’s members. They say they wanted FIFA to demand that ICE and Customs and Border Protection play “no role in the World Cup,” which has not been forthcoming.

“We want ICE out of the games,” said Petersen. “This means the government should not send in ICE to ‘protect’ the games.

“The first item that our workers wanted to talk about in bargaining sessions was the presence of ICE. We had a white worker, a black worker, a brown worker all say this is bad for all of us, and we’re standing together and we’re not going to tolerate having ICE in our stadium. One said, ‘It’s not just us; it’s also our guests and clients. It’s people coming to the games. It’s the players’.

“It would be a good thing if FIFA came out and said that. It’s hard to imagine, given that (Infantino) handed Trump a peace prize while he’s going to war. People are nervous. Our members are saying, ‘We’re not going to work if ICE are around, because they could scoop us up’.”

The role of ICE at the tournament remains hazy. ICE acting director Todd Lyons previously said the organization would play a “key part” in ensuring security during the World Cup. He said ICE’s primary role, as is common at sporting events, would center on Homeland Security investigations, but members of the U.S. Congress have flagged concerns that the involvement of ICE may extend to immigration-enforcement raids close to World Cup events.

ICE’s involvement and impact on the 2026 World Cup has been the subject of conjecture and confusion.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin then told CBS in May that ICE would be focused on counterfeit products, particularly tickets and clothing.

He added: “When they’re at these sporting events, we’re not out there doing immigration enforcement,” he said. “But we are looking for, maybe we have people that shouldn’t be in this country because they’re on terrorist watchlists.”

Yet when CBS then pressed him on the possibility of immigration enforcement, he said: “Well, ICE always says immigration enforcement. We’re always going to do that. But we’re not there for solely that purpose. We’re in there to do our job. We’re not there to go round up mass individuals, but we are always looking for the worst of the worst. We’re going to continue to do that.”

The head of Miami’s host committee Rodney Barreto previously told The Athletic he received assurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio to say ICE would not be present at games, but a State Department spokesperson then followed up to say “safety and security” are the top priorities for the administration.

Over the past week, the New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani responded to threats from Tom Homan, the White House border czar to send in “more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen” after the New York governor Kathy Hochul passed legislation which pulled back on some law enforcement arrangements with ICE.

Mamdani said “soccer would not exist without immigrants,” and pledged that city officials “will not allow ICE or anyone else to sow fear in our communities.”

Adam Crafton|Football Writer

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