Rep. Eric Swalwell introduces bill to block ICE at World Cup sites

Rep. Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, reflected on his college soccer career as he introduced a package of bills aimed at preventing immigration-related behavior in and around World Cup venues next June.

More than a dozen U.S. cities will host World Cup soccer matches, including East Rutherford, New Jersey, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington — while three Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee want to prevent what they call racial and linguistic profiling that would spark fear among fans.

“How can our country host the World Cup while expelling fans from all over the world?” Swalwell said in a statement introducing his “Safe Passage to the World Cup Act.”

“As a former Division I football player, I know what an honor it is to host the world’s greatest sporting event.

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Swalwell, an Iowa native, played goalie in Division I soccer at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

The future liberal firebrand dreamed of becoming a professional football star himself, but ended up breaking his thumbs, ultimately sidelining his eventual career.

After transferring to the University of Maryland at College Park, he interned in nearby Washington, D.C., for Rep. Ellen Tauscher, a California Democrat.

“That was a turning point. I knew I didn’t want to play football anymore; I wanted to be in Washington,” Swalwell told Diablo Magazine in 2013 in an article now facsimiled on his official Congressional website.

Eric Swalwell participates in the 2nd annual Capital Classic football event. (Warren Rojas/Getty Images)

Swalwell’s bill would prohibit the use of federal DHS funding for civil immigration enforcement activities on public transportation or at terminals from June 11 to July 19 in any city hosting a FIFA game or festival.

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The bill provides an exclusion for the “hot pursuit” of suspects posing an “imminent risk to public safety.”

“Our priority should be to show our best, without police commandeering buses, trains and public spaces,” Swalwell said in a statement.

“This bill ensures that ICE cannot turn everyday public transportation into a place of terror. It is shameful that DHS traps people with political maneuvering.”

“We are better than that,” he said.

Swalwell serves on the House Homeland Security Committee’s task force on enhancing security at special events in the United States.

The leading Democrat on that panel, Rep. Nellie Pou of New Jersey, represents the area around New York Giants stadium, where the games will be played.

Pou has crafted a companion bill called the Save the World Cup Act, which bans immigration checks near matches or festivals themselves – and would impose measures to ensure that parking lots and fan walkways are not encroached by ICE checks to “deter attendance and indiscriminately target communities.”

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“With less than 90 days until kickoff, the World Cup should bring the world together and not leave families wondering whether ICE agents will be waiting outside stadiums,” Pou said in a statement, adding that she asked ICE Director Todd Lyons if he could assure her of no such enforcement — but he declined.

A third member of the task force — Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., — still faces charges for allegedly assaulting a federal agent outside Delaney Hall in her hometown of Newark.

The case remains active as of January, according to the New Jersey Monitor, which reported that Judge Jamel Semper, a Biden appointee, allowed two of the three counts to proceed while McIver appeals.

McIver’s companion bill would ban the use of state grant programs for civil immigration control near World Cup match sites.

“Fans from around the world and across the country will travel to New Jersey to watch the World Cup, and keeping them safe means protecting them from DHS’s attempts to turn this global event into a crackdown for the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda,” she said in a statement.

“We fought for millions of federal dollars so football fans could enjoy the greatest game on earth. They should not be intimidated by immigration law enforcement. I am introducing this bill to draw a clear line that ensures state and local law enforcement can truly focus on fan safety.”

A DHS spokesperson said the agency still plans to work with local and federal partners to secure World Cup matches “in accordance with federal law and the U.S. Constitution, as we do with any major sporting event, while showcasing American greatness to the world.”

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“International visitors who come legally to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to fear,” DHS said. “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are in the United States illegally, period.”

The spokesperson called speculation about the legislative package “ill-informed” and said foreign visitors should always be “proactive” and have all their forms filed in Washington as well as their personal documents in advance to ensure a smooth travel experience.