{"id":17530,"date":"2026-05-19T10:25:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/amid-prospect-of-ice-at-world-cup-games-vendors-weigh-livelihoods-against-safety-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T10:25:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T10:25:07","slug":"amid-prospect-of-ice-at-world-cup-games-vendors-weigh-livelihoods-against-safety-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/19\/amid-prospect-of-ice-at-world-cup-games-vendors-weigh-livelihoods-against-safety-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid prospect of ICE at World Cup games, vendors weigh livelihoods against safety – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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LOS ANGELES \u2014 With the World Cup fast approaching, Southern California is bracing for a wave of international fans and elite soccer stars. But there\u2019s another potential arrival causing unease: ICE agents.
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Latino vendors, fixtures <\/strong>outside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and other venues around the region, often sell merch and food after concerts and sporting events. Some are expressing concern about ICE potentially working the games<\/a>. And workers at SoFi Stadium \u2014 set to host eight games starting June 12 \u2014 are threatening to strike if ICE is there, citing fear for their safety.
Last June, the Los Angeles area was the site of sprawling immigration raids<\/a> in which the Trump administration targeted day laborers and factory workers. Widespread protests followed, along with some clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement and the deployment of the National Guard.
\u201cWe always have this worry that we\u2019re going to be more on the lookout for immigration [rather] than focused on selling,\u201d said Henrry Josue, a 23-year-old hot dog vendor who did not disclose his legal status but plans to set up his stand during the World Cup.
\u201cWe came to make money, not cause problems,\u201d he said.
NBC News reported last week that federal officers and agents who arrest immigrants as part of their work with ICE may be at World Cup matches<\/a>.
The Department of Homeland Security is offering its personnel to local police departments and federal agencies to provide extra security around the perimeters of games, similar to its role at the Super Bowl and the Kentucky Derby, two DHS officials said, adding that ICE officers and agents providing security won\u2019t be checking spectators or employees for immigration status.
So far, it\u2019s unclear whether any departments or agencies are taking ICE up on the offer. On Monday, Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts said ICE has offered resources from a \u201cpublic safety perspective,\u201d but his city and its police department haven\u2019t \u201cengaged in any such discussions\u201d with the agency.
And, he said, \u201cI have no information suggesting that ICE is going to be present in an immigration enforcement capacity.\u201d
Asked whether street vendors outside matches should be concerned if they don\u2019t have legal status, a DHS spokesperson said they should.
\u201cYes, people who are unlawfully in the United States and have no legal status should voluntarily depart and pursue legal entry the same way millions of people around the world do every single year,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cThat is how immigration law works.\u201d
DHS said international visitors legally in the U.S. for the games \u201chave nothing to worry about.\u201d
Josue, who has been selling sizzling, bacon-wrapped hot dogs for a year and a half at events across the country, said the World Cup presents a big business opportunity.
\u201cGenerally, we plan to make 2,000 [dollars] every game,\u201d he said \u2014 a major jump from the typical $200 he earns a night selling outside SoFi Stadium or the nearby Kia Forum.
Josue said he\u2019s not personally worried about ICE, but he is concerned for others who \u201cdon\u2019t have the same opportunities\u201d as him.
\u201cJust as we need money here to eat, our families back home also need to eat, and that\u2019s the reason we came here to work,\u201d he added.
Juan Tzita, a vendor from Guatemala who sells part time after events at SoFi Stadium and the Kia Forum, is determined to sell at the World Cup.
\u201cThere will be a lot of people, and if I see immigration, I can just hide,\u201d Tzita, who did not disclose his legal status, told NBC News.
He plans to sell drinks, ribbons and flags for every country.
\u201cIf I manage to sell four dozen [each], I think I could make around $700 or $800,\u201d he said.
Sergio Jimenez, co-founder of the Community Power Collective, an L.A. nonprofit that advocates for vendors, said many are \u201calready in the red for not having worked a lot\u201d since last June due to ICE raids. Now, he said, they\u2019re being forced to weigh their livelihoods against safety.
\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have those choices, to gamble one\u2019s lives just to ensure that there\u2019s an access to an economic opportunity,\u201d Jimenez said.
The union representing workers inside SoFi Stadium has threatened to strike if several conditions aren\u2019t met \u2014 including keeping ICE out of games.
UNITE HERE Local 11, which <\/strong>represents about 2,000 stadium workers, including cooks, servers and bartenders, held a rally outside the FIFA office in downtown Los Angeles on May 1. At the rally, plastic soccer balls rained down upon a part of the street as workers holding \u201cKick ICE out!\u201d posters chanted \u201cICE has got to go! Ole, ole, ole!\u201d
Isaac Martinez, a 38-year-old cook and shop steward who has worked at the stadium for 4 1\/2 years, said workers are scared.
\u201cSometimes ICE goes off a person\u2019s profile,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I look Mexican, Latino \u2026 we are a city that\u2019s full of Latin communities. We\u2019ve seen what happened in Minneapolis<\/a>, Chicago and here in Los Angeles. So there\u2019s real fear.\u201d
On May 7, UNITE HERE Local 11 filed a complaint with the California Privacy Protection Agency and the California Department of Justice against FIFA, alleging world soccer\u2019s governing body is collecting stadium workers\u2019 sensitive personal data and sharing it with DHS.
Credentialing protocols are common for high-profile sporting events like the Super Bowl<\/a> and the Olympics. The Super Bowl requires an FBI background check for anyone requesting credentialed access, and LA28<\/a>, the organizing committee for the 2028 Olympics, tells volunteers they may be subject to a background check.
But the union argues that FIFA\u2019s data sharing violates California\u2019s privacy protections. In a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, it demanded he investigate and halt FIFA\u2019s 2026 World Cup accreditation process.
The news that SoFi Stadium would host the World Cup was initially exciting, said 64-year-old Susana Lahargue, who has worked there for three years. \u201cBut with everything that is happening with ICE,\u201d she said, \u201cit crushed our morale. Yes, this event is important, but our safety is more important.\u201d
SoFi Stadium declined to comment and deferred comment to FIFA. FIFA did not respond to requests for comment.
In L.A., legal advocates and community groups are laying the groundwork for what they say are safe vending opportunities.
Jimenez said the Community Power Collective is working with area city and supervisory councils to allow vendors to sell food securely and safely at World Cup \u201cfan zones<\/a>,\u201d designated gathering areas for people to watch live matches and take part in activities.
The fan zones, he said, could be safer for vendors because they\u2019ll be organized in coordination with community officials.
Public Counsel, a pro bono law firm in Los Angeles that works with low-income communities and vendors, is also working with coalitions and the city of Inglewood to ask that vendors be included in economic opportunities at the games and people in the area without legal status be protected.
Both groups plan to work with community rapid response networks if ICE begins detaining people, and to connect them with lawyers if needed. They also plan to hold workshops for vendors to ensure they know their rights, as well as the risks associated with vending at SoFi Stadium.
\u201cA lot of vendors, they don\u2019t have a cushion, you know. They often don\u2019t have savings, they don\u2019t have any form of retirement,\u201d said Ritu Mahajan Estes, the directing attorney for Public Counsel\u2019s community development project.
\u201cAs scared as they may be,\u201d she said, \u201cthey feel like they don\u2019t have an option.\u201d
Marlene Lenthang is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeLOS ANGELES \u2014 With the World Cup fast approaching, Southern California is bracing for a wave of international fans and elite soccer stars. But there\u2019s another potential arrival causing unease: ICE agents.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Latino vendors, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}