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Amnesty International and over 120 civil and human rights organizations issued a formal travel warning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, alerting fans, players, and journalists about an "increase in authoritarianism and violence" under President Donald Trump's immigration policies, reported AP.
The document, also signed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and dozens of other groups, warns that visitors could be arbitrarily turned away at the border, detained in "inhumane" conditions, or subjected to invasive searches of their phones and social media.
The organizations justified the alert by stating that it was necessary "due to the worsening situation of human rights in the United States and the lack of significant actions and concrete guarantees from FIFA, the host cities, or the U.S. government."
The alert identifies specific risks in host cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis, where operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have prompted accusations of racial profiling and violent suppression of protests.
One of the most cited cases in the document is that of Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old woman who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026, while serving as a legal observer of immigration operations near a bilingual school.
Days after that incident, ICE announced its "key" role in the security of the tournament, which heightened the fears of civil organizations that had already requested FIFA to exclude ICE from the stadiums during the competition.
The warning also states that since January 2026, the Trump administration imposed total visa restrictions on nationals of 19 countries, including Iran, Haiti, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, and partial restrictions on another 20, including Cuba and Venezuela, directly affecting fans from nations qualified for the tournament.
In that context, the U.S. established special visa rules for the World Cup through the so-called "FIFA Pass," which provides priority consular interviews for official ticket purchasers, although without relaxing security checks.
The impact on tourism is already evident: international tourism to the U.S. dropped by 5.4% in 2025, with decreases ranging from 22% to 28% from Canada, and surveys from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) indicate that 34% of respondents are avoiding visiting the country due to Trump's immigration policies, with projected losses of 15.7 billion dollars in tourism spending.
The warning generated backlash from the tourism sector. Geoff Freeman, president of the American Travel Association, stated that "the idea that visiting the United States poses a significant security risk is not a good faith warning but a political tactic designed to cause economic harm," and he reminded that last year 67 million international tourists visited the country.
FIFA, for its part, merely reiterated its guiding documents on commitment to human rights, without providing any additional concrete guarantees, a stance that had already drawn prior criticism concerning U.S. immigration policies.
It is also relevant that the approval rate for asylum cases fell to 7% under the Trump administration, compared to the 50% recorded during previous administrations, which illustrates the tightening of the immigration system that visitors will face.
The FIFA 2026 tournament kicks off on June 11 with matches in 11 stadiums across the United States, along with venues in Canada and Mexico, and could draw up to 10 million visitors to North America in what is projected to be the largest sporting event in history.
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