The National Football League (NFL) and federal immigration enforcement officials both stated on Tuesday (February 3) that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not have any plans to carry out immigration enforcement actions during the Super Bowl on Sunday or its lead-up events.
The match between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will take place on Sunday. The game will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, which is also the home stadium of the San Francisco 49ers.
At a press conference in San Francisco, NFL Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier confirmed earlier reports by Reuters and stated, “During the Super Bowl or any events related to the Super Bowl, ICE has no plans to conduct any immigration enforcement actions.”
Lanier mentioned that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would deploy various agencies to the Super Bowl but ICE would not be included. She further added that over the past week, she had met with DHS leadership multiple times and was confident that there would be no ICE enforcement actions.
She emphasized, “There will be no ICE personnel deployed during the Super Bowl, and I believe there have not been in recent years as well.”
DHS agent Jeffrey Brannigan, responsible for coordinating security efforts among various agencies, stated that the security plan for the 60th Super Bowl began about 18 months ago, involving 35 federal, state, and local agencies. Federal law enforcement agencies have strict and clear goals to support the security work for the Super Bowl.
He also mentioned that in the upcoming days, the region would see a significant increase in federal law enforcement personnel who will directly contribute to supporting the security efforts for the Super Bowl.
Official estimates predict that the Super Bowl and its related activities will attract around 1.3 million visitors.
Lanier also mentioned that the NFL and law enforcement agencies involved in Super Bowl security plan to utilize artificial intelligence to assist in executing security work, although she declined to disclose the specific deployment of this emerging technology. She emphasized, “Most of the technologies we use involve elements of artificial intelligence.”
(This article is based on reports by Reuters)