With the world’s largest sporting event, the World Cup, slated to begin in June, the United States should call a truce in the campaign of terror being waged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies against immigrants and others.
Major sporting events have long relied on the so-called “Olympic Truce,” which dates back to the eighth century B.C., when the warring city-states of ancient Greece agreed to cease hostilities so that athletes and fans could travel safely to and from the games. The International Olympic Committee and the United Nations revived the concept in 1993, and to this day, the U.N. puts forward a resolution before each Olympics calling on member nations to observe the Olympic Truce.
Given the risks posed by the Trump administration’s abusive immigration operations to World Cup 2026 soccer fans, tournament workers and communities hosting the games, FIFA should back a similar “ICE Truce” as it organizes this year’s World Cup.
During the first weeks of 2026, the world watched in horror as federal agents in Minneapolis shot and killed two U.S. citizens protesting and observing immigration enforcement operations. Beyond Minnesota, immigration officers are engaging in excessive violence and deploying military-grade weapons.
Across the nation, federal agents, masked and without identification, have swarmed individuals, broken car windows and front doors and injured people. Rising numbers of people are locked up in ICE detention centers. Thirteen people have died in ICE custody since the beginning of 2026.